East Kazakhstan Region has announced the results of the 5th International Festival of Traditional Hunting with Birds of Prey, “Shygys Salburyny – 2026,” held at the Burkit Tobe site. This year, the event was held for the first time as the 1st Asian Cup in kusbegilik, bringing together a large number of participants and guests from around the world.
The major ethnocultural event brought together 176 eagle hunters and masters of the traditional art of hunting with birds of prey from 10 countries:
Kazakhstan
Hungary
China
Mongolia
Russia
Türkiye
Uzbekistan
Kyrgyzstan
Spain
Georgia
The festival recorded a record attendance, with approximately 15,000 spectators visiting the Burkit Tobe venue. The event also attracted considerable interest from international travellers. Tourists from Germany, Austria, the United States, India and Hungary visited the ethno-village as part of organised and private tourist groups.
Key Competitions and Results
Over three days, masters of traditional hunting demonstrated their skills in hunting with golden eagles, falcons (itelgi) and hawks (karshyga), as well as in races featuring Kazakh Tazy sighthounds.
Golden Eagle Hunting: Following the final rounds, the main awards of the 1st Asian Cup went to representatives of Zhambyl, Turkistan and Karaganda regions.
Falcon Hunting (Itelgi): Tөlegenuly Temirali from Karaganda Region won the gold medal, while Serikbekuly Erasyl from Astana took silver.
Hawk Hunting (Karshyga): The first place was awarded to Makhmudkhan Zaki from Turkistan Region.
Tazy Racing: Erzhan Zhaiyk from Ust-Kamenogorsk won the competition with his Tazy hound named Karauyz.
Cultural and Tourism Significance
As part of the festival, an ethno-village featuring handicraft exhibitions, traditional Kazakh cuisine and a vibrant concert programme welcomed visitors. The event marked an important step in promoting East Kazakhstan Region’s tourism potential internationally and preserving its intangible cultural heritage.
“The growing number of participants and the arrival of tourists from Europe and the Americas demonstrate that the Salburyn tradition is becoming a recognisable brand of East Kazakhstan, attracting international attention to nomadic culture,” the East Kazakhstan Region Tourism Department noted.
