ABOUT NAURYZ FESTIVAL

The Kazakh New Year’s celebration of Nauryz has been celebrated by Turkic and Iranian people for over 2000 years. It is the biggest holiday in the Kazakh year. The day corresponds to the spring equinox and marks the renewal of life. Typically revolves around visiting family and friends and eating lots of traditional food. Each family starts the day by cleaning their home, then visiting family starting with the oldest relative. At each house, visitors are served a traditional soup (nauryz koje), meat dishes, and kimiz (fermented mare’s milk). Over the course of Nauryz, which usually lasts over 3 days, one may visit as many as 40 homes. On the 21st, Olgii hosts a parade and concert of traditional Kazakh music in the morning in the morning with Kazakh horse games including Kyz Kuar (woman chase), and Kokpar (tug of war on horseback) in the afternoon just outside of the city. A concert is held in the Kazakh National Theatre at night.