Spring Golden Eagle Festival kicks off in Mongolia

The Spring Golden Eagle Festival, a traditional Mongolian festival, opened near the capital city of Ulaanbaatar on Sunday with the aim to promote ethnic Kazakh culture and boost tourism.

Twenty eagle hunters aged 14-86 competed in the 11th edition of the two-day festival to catch small animals, such as foxes and hares, with specially trained golden eagles, showing off the skills of both the birds and their trainers, according to the Mongolian Eagle Hunter's Association.

Prizes were awarded for speed, agility and accuracy, as well as for the best traditional Kazakh clothing and more.

Mongolia is home to the 1,000 yearold tradition of hunting with trained golden eagles. This unique tradition has been passed from generation to generation among the Kazakh nomads.

One of the participants, Aisholpan Nurgaiv, has long contributed to the promotion of the tradition of hunting with eagles. When Aisholpan was 13, her father taught her how to hunt on horseback with a golden eagle, a traditionally male pursuit.

Israeli photographer Asher Svidensky became the first to discover the girl in 2013 and published a series of jaw-dropping photos of the brave eagle huntress. Inspired by these bright pictures, British director Otto Bell shot a documentary The Eagle Huntress starring Aisholpan and her eagle.

The Golden Eagle Festival is held twice a year in the spring and autumn season in Mongolia.

The autumn festival is held in the Bayan-Ulgii Province.

It's estimated that the festival, one of the most interesting tourism activities in Mongolia, attracted 3,000 visitors this year, an increase over last year's 2,000 visitors.