Ethnographic Camp Allows Visitors to Live as Ancient Nomads

The Nomads of the Great Steppe ethnographic camp will open its doors June 10.

Photo credit: centralasia-travel.com

Photo credit: centralasia-travel.com

The three-day festival will be organised on the Ili River in the Almaty region and held under the motto: “Living in the present, thinking about the future, without forgetting the past!”

According to the organisers of the event, the ethnographic recreation camp is a new and ambitious project aimed at the expansion and strengthening of a common cultural space, promotion of national cultural traditions, moral values, patriotism and respect for history. It will also promote traditional crafts and national sports games.

The camp participants will get an opportunity to visit several thematic events taking place throughout the camp, which will allow them to get acquainted with the life, traditions and customs of Kazakh ancestors. For those who want to learn how to work with felt, leather and silver, the camp will offer special master classes. Besides lessons, guests will be able to participate in recreational activities and competitions and attend a concert of ethnic music.

The camp organisers also remind that life in the camp will be established in accordance with the laws of the steppe. This means that only traditional nomadic cuisine will be available for guests, which includes meat (mutton, horse meat, veal), dairy drinks (kymyz, boza, ayran, tan), as well as special meals like іrіmshіk (curd), kurt (dried salted cheese) and kaimak (sour cream). In case of alcohol consumption or discipline violations, the participants will be excluded from the camp. All camp participants are obliged to follow the rules and requirements of the organisation committee.

In the camp, each guest will need to have comfortable sports hiking clothes, warm clothes, a hat and sun protection products, as well as personal utensils, insect repellent and camping chairs if needed. Also, potential participants are recommended to bring national costumes and national musical instruments (kobyz, saz-syrnai, sybyzgy, dombra etc.). The travel expenses will be covered by the participants themselves.

The camp voucher costs 7,000 tenge (US$21) for adults, for students and schoolchildren the price is 5,000 tenge (US$15) and for children up to 6 years – 2,000 tenge (US$6).


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