N.JAMIYANKHUU: It is legal to take day offs for six days to celebrate Naadam Festival

On June 28, 2022, the law on public holidays and anniversaries was amended. As a result, the law of celebrating the National Naadam Festival from July 10 to 15 is enforced.

In this regard, the Acting Head of the Private Law Department of the Legal Policy Department of the Ministry of Justice and Internal Affairs, N.Jamiyankhuu clarified that “On June 28, 2022, due to the amendment of the Law on National Naadam Festival (Naadam Law), public holidays and celebrations, it was approved to celebrate the national holiday from July 10. As a result, it was enacted to celebrate National Naadam Festival and People’s Revolution Celebration on July 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15, or a total of six days.

He continued, “The National Naadam Festival is divided into national, provincial, and soum. On July 10 and 11, the National Naadam Festival will be held in the central stadiums of the province, soum, and the capital on July 11, 12, and 13. It can be understood that citizens will rest on July 14 and 15. The law on public holidays and anniversaries only specifies that July 10 to 15 are Naadam holidays. The law came into effect on July 8, 2022. Previously, July 10 was a working day.”

So, this year, the official holiday of the Naadam Festival will last until July 17, including Saturday and Sunday.

Article 5.2 of the revision of the Law on the National Naadam Festival stipulates that, ‘ Unless the law provides otherwise, according to Article 4.1.1 of the Law on Public Celebration of the Naadam Festival every year, provincial and soum festivals will be celebrated on July 10 and 11, and national festivals will be celebrated on July 11, 12, and 13 all over the country at the same time.

•On July 10 and 11, there will be a province and soum festival. In this way, the wrestlers will be able to wrestle at the festival on July 11, 12, and 13;

•The date of the festival may change unless otherwise specified by law or in case of earthquake or drought. For example, Mongolia organized a Naadam Festival in Tsonjinboldog during COVID-19. In such special circumstances, certain dates of July 11, 12, and 13 may change;

•According to the previous law, the location and time of celebrating the festival could not be changed. These may be changed by the revised law. In particular, the nine white banners can be moved from the top;

•Anklebone shooting was added to three main games which are the horse racing, archery, and wrestling. Race of horseracing, archery, and anklebone shooting starts on July 10, so the reason for starting the festival is July 10;

•According to the revised law, 1,024 wrestlers can compete in Naadam Festival due to the equal number (2,232nd anniversary of the foundation of the first Mongolian Statehood). In this case, wrestling will not be held on July 11 and 12, so we will start on July 10.

The government has the right to change the location and date of the national festival on July 10, 11, 12, and 13 due to emergencies, such as disasters, accidents, epidemics, floods, or drought.

Especially, the budget to celebrate the 2,232nd anniversary of the foundation of the first Mongolian Statehood, the 817th anniversary of the Great Mongol Empire and the 102nd anniversary of the People’s Revolution of Mongolia has not been approved yet. From 2014 to 2022, more than 2 billion MNT were spent annually on the National Naadam Festival, and the highest amount was 3 billion MNT in 2020.