Festivals in Almaty: from marathons to ethnic music

The largest metropolis in Kazakhstan is called "the largest" because it has a plentiful selection of events and locations. The surprising thing is that in just one day in Almaty, you can have fun at a festival, go to the mountains, or visit several natural areas by choosing tours to the Asy plateau or Charyn canyons. For example, in the morning, you can have breakfast at the Shymbulak Ski Resort in the meadows area or lift higher and play snowballs, then go back to the city to take a sun bath near the pool under the hot summer sun, and after that, go to one of the city festivals. In this article, we will tell you about the most amusing annual festivals in Almaty, the impressions of which will stay with you for a long time.

Almaty Mount Fest

If you came to Almaty and just went to the mountains, you can already consider the trip completed and justified, no matter where you come from. The Almaty Mountains are unique. To understand why, just walk around the city and look to the south - there are few places where you can see a mountain range rising to four kilometers from the center of the metropolis.

The annual Almaty Mount Fest brings together mountain hikers from all over the world. Ittakes place for four days in the fall, and its program includes "alpiniada" (conquering the Molodezhny peak), "sky running", "downhill" (mountain bike racing), and "turiada" (a mass mountain hike with the participation of several hundred people). The main locations are the high mountain sports complex "Medeu" and "Shymbulak", where thematic master classes, dynamic DJ sets, competitions, sweepstakes, and photo exhibitions are organized in the
conventional festival area.

The Spirit of Tengri

The Spirit of Tengri is an ethnic music festival usually held for two days in June every year. In June 2013, the concerts were organized for the first time. Musicians perform in the open air on the square in front of the Palace of the Republic. Musical groups from more than 30 countries participated in The Spirit of Tengri festival.

The African-Arab band "Speed Caravan", the Israeli group "Q2A", the Uzbek project "Abbos", the Turkish group "BaBa Zula", the Chinese-Mongolian group "Hanggai", the Magyar group "Tilla Török Band & Holdviola", the Bashkir ethnic-rockers "Argymak", the Georgian groups "The Shin" and "Mgzavrebi", Buryat-Finnish-Norwegian project Nordic Namgar, master of throat singing Radik Tyulush with the "Chalama" project from Tuva, and
many others appeared on the stage. And, of course, Kazakh ethnic groups, including: "Tigrahaud", "Aldaspan", "Sharapat", "Roksonaki" and the "Drums" project.

Besides music, festival guests can visit a crafts fair, buy souvenirs, enjoy delicious food, and watch artistic performances.

Eco-ethnofestival FourE

The name of the festival FourE means four “Es” - ecology, ethnicity, emotions, and evolution. These four points are crucial to the spiritual growth of any person. Decorating the tents and the entire territory with colorful fabrics was also thought out with a predominance of four colors associated with the festival concept: green - ecology, purple - evolution, pink - emotions, and orange - ethnicity.

The open-air event takes place over four days in August; each time, the organizers choose a beautiful location near Almaty. The festival is a jam-packed music event covering a wide range of genres, starting with ethnic music and ending with advanced trends in electronic music. Here, you will find dozens of creative spaces and places where you can attend educational lectures on a wide range of topics.

The organizers are trying to combine varieties of world traditions, including music, dance, legends, and fairy tales, as well as traditional national costumes, on one platform. Masters of various spiritual practices, yogis, and psychologists gather here.

Almaty City Day

Every third Sunday in September Almaty celebrates its birthday. However, the love of Almaty residents for their city manifests itself long before this date, so ceremonial events begin from the beginning of the month. To celebrate City Day, the administration usually prepares a variety of cultural, sports and entertainment events for guests and local residents.

If you happen to be in the city at this time, we recommend visiting the "Orchestra Festival" - an open-air musical event, traditionally held on Abay Square in front of the Palace of the Republic. Over the course of two days, on one stage you will see performances by orchestras from all over Kazakhstan, including the famous folk instrument orchestra named after Mukan Tulebaev and the pop-symphony orchestra of the akim of Almaty. The repertoire is varied - from classical works of Kazakh composers to music of the peoples of the world.

Music lovers will enjoy another open-air event - the Kok-Tobe Opera classical music festival. The program involves leading artists of the Abai KazNTOB, their colleagues from the Astana Opera and stars of the world stage. You will hear symphonic works, famous opera and ballet masterpieces from the world classics.

Contemporary art is showcased at the ARTBAT FEST, where art lovers gather to see works created by artists from around the world.

Extreme sports fans will find something to see at the annual festival of urban and extreme sports, where athletes compete in streetball, skateboarding, street dancing and other sports.

What's a holiday without delicious food? The city center at this time is full of festivals with an extensive gastronomic program. Here you can enjoy the richness of tastes and aromas presented by a wide selection of dishes from different cultures. This is a great opportunity to try both national treats and exotic dishes.

In addition to the events mentioned, guests and residents of the city can attend a variety of performances, concerts, sports competitions and many charitable and environmental events - more than a hundred different events in total.

Apple Fest

What would the city of apples be like without the Apple Fest (not to be confused with Apple company events) dedicated to apples? It takes place in the fall, at harvest time. The locations for the festival are chosen differently depending on the festive program for Almaty City Day, which takes place every third Sunday in September.

Apple Fest was first organized in 2010 to return the glory of the Apple region to the city. A tasting competition for all varieties of apples and treats made of them runs as part of the festival. In 2010, a 300-kilogram pie was prepared with a size of 2 by 10 meters. The special guest of the festival was Gerard Depardieu. And in 2023, 127 tons of apples were brought to the festival from all over the Almaty region.

A gala concert with the participation of Kazakh pop stars is also held as part of the festival.

Kitap Fest Almaty

Kitap Fest is a cultural festival that, since 2014, has become an integral part of the lives of Kazakh second-hand book dealers. It takes place as part of City Day. Over the years of its existence, Kitap Fest has collected more than 200 works from famous authors and publishers in Kazakhstan, becoming an influential platform for literary meetings.

At the festival, meetings of readers with Kazakh writers and public figures are organized, new books are presented, and a campaign is held to distribute several thousand books.Visitors are also offered the opportunity to donate books to rural libraries in Kazakhstan.

Almaty Marathon

The Almaty Marathon is held on the last Sunday in April. It is the largest sports event in Central Asia and has been taking place since 2013. In 2023, more than 14 thousand people participated in it. The start and finish are at Republic Square.

It includes disciplines such as the traditional marathon (42 km and 195 m) and the half-marathon (21 km and 97.5 m) for participants aged 18 years and older; the satellite race (10 km) and the Nordic walking (10 km) for participants aged 15 years and older; and corporate Ekiden relay (42 km and 195 m) for teams of 6 people aged 16 years and older.

This sports event brings together all running enthusiasts from Kazakhstan. It is worth noting that races in Almaty are held quite regularly; in addition to the large Almaty Marathon, those who like to run the distance at speed can participate in several thematic races in different locations and at large races in the winter and autumn.

Asia Dauysy

The international music festival was held annually for three days in July at the "Medeu" high mountain sports complex from 1990 to 2005 and was revived in 2023. The festival attracts performers from different countries of Asia, Europe, and the USA, representing such musical genres as pop, rock, jazz, and folk.

Among the headliners of the event you can find names that have become true legends of themusic industry, such as Sting, Gloria Gaynor, Toto Cutugno, Patricia Kaas, Alla Pugacheva, Laima Vaikule, Jimmy Summerville, Boney M, Space, Scooter, Captain Jack, Bomfunk MC's, Touché, Haddaway, Coolio, Mo-Do, Modern Talking, Ice MC, Eruption, Suzi Quatro, Mithun Chakraborty, A'Studio, Sofia Rotaru, Yalla and Black Eyed Peas. Performers frommore than 100 countries from all over the world appeared on the Asia Dausy stage.