Festival "Altyn-emel - Kulandar Mekeni"

The program of the festival includes a Qulan run on rough terrain, observation of kulans, excursions to petroglyphs, a children's quest "Kazakhstan - the country of petroglyphs", stunning ethnic music, a craft fair and the most interesting master classes.

What organizers and guests did

To begin with, Kazakhstan is rich in finds that speak about the past of the planet. “Altyn-Emel” is located in a basin where volcanic lava once boiled, and in the depths of the ancient Tethys ocean lived prehistoric fish and giant reptiles. This is a geological and paleontological park, an open-air museum, which presents geological deposits and structures formed in various epochs - from the Paleozoic to the present day. The landscape of the park is sandy-desert, gravel-clay-desert and mountainous. In the mountains of Sholak there is a cluster of petroglyphs, and professionally organized excursions for guests of the festival have become one of its main highlights.

On these expanses, dirt roads are cut dry, bypass sharp stones that clatter from the grass against the background of the surface of the Kapshagai reservoir. It is safer to move around the park on jeeps with strong rubber, and the caravan of such cars delivered the first group to the tract, where among the rocky exits of the Sholak mountains guests were greeted by the creator of the community “Petroglyph Hunters” Olga Gumirova.

"We are in the territory of the sanctuary," she said, "and these drawings are amulets, shall we say, serve as an icon." There were settlements here - these are stone calculations pressed against the rocks, and the choice of this place is not accidental. In late autumn, the slopes remain green and it is an ideal place for nomads. On this gorge they went to Jailau, there are many streams and grass. Mostly there are drawings of the early Iron Age. There were settlements of the early Iron Age, medieval and Kazakh. At the base we see drawings of the early Iron Age, there are also drawings of the Bronze Age. A large layer is the Middle Ages, there are a small number of drawings of modern times. Drawings, settlements and mounds that we see in the steppe were related, that is, they are sacred places. The mound is also an indicator of the belonging of a territory to a particular genus.”.

Olga Gumirova noted that our republic has an unprecedented (on a global scale!) heritage in terms of quantity and historical value. The whole region of Zhetisu and specifically Altyn-Emel are just such treasures. Volunteer of the society “Petroglyph Hunters” Yuri Dorokhov said that for three years, with the support of visiting centers, Qazaq National Parks, the Fund for Support of Sustainable Tourism Development, their group has been studying these territories.

“Kazakhstan is really rich in petroglyphs,” Dorokhov said. We believe that we are ranked first in the world in petroglyphic heritage, we have found more than a million drawings, perhaps only Mongolia and Western China can compete with us. Every year we open new clusters, especially rich Altai, Zhetysu, south and west of the country. Now we are in one of the centers of concentration of petroglyphic rock art. In the II millennium BC, the tribes of Andronovo culture came here, the tradition was continued by their descendants of the Saki. The Turks brought their school of rock drawing, they assimilated the local population, absorbed many cultural codes. Some ethnographers say that in Southern Kazakhstan there is a custom: when a son is born in a family, the father carves his name and date of birth on the rocks, that is, a tradition that dates back about four thousand years, is alive! I have seen such inscriptions in Arabic, Latin, Cyrillic. The drawings reflect the spiritual world of ancestors who did not depict everyday life. It is primarily mythology and rites, and it is a way of communicating with posterity.”.

A thousand guests

The main purpose of the event was to demonstrate the indissoluble unity of nature, history and culture. The idea to hold the festival in a new format was put forward by Qazaq National Parks and the public foundation “Petroglyph Hunters”. The organizers are the Altyn-Emel State National Nature Park, the Akimat of the Zhetisu region, the Central Asian Sustainable Tourism Development Foundation, the creative agency DDA. The festival received more than a thousand guests from Almaty, Taldykorgan and other cities of the country, the national park was visited by foreign guests and foreign journalists.

Deputy akim of Zhetisu region Marlen Kolbayev noted: “The unique diverse nature and rich historical heritage of Zhetisu have a huge tourist potential. Every year we note a significant increase in the tourist flow, open new destinations that are interesting for both guests and residents of our region. The successful holding of the festival “Altyn-Emel – Kulandar Mekeni” once again confirms that tourism can and should become one of the main drivers of the region’s economy, and we will definitely continue to work in this direction.

General Director of SNPP Altyn-Emel Kuat Baiturbayev noted: “Altyn-Emel – Kulandar Mekeni” is an example of the development of tourism in the framework of careful attitude to nature. The main task is to preserve and show people the unique world of animals and plants, the beauty of the unique landscapes of our land. Such activities make a huge contribution to raising awareness of nature, arousing interest in it and showing concern for the environment.”.

Alexander Guzhavin, CEO of Qazaq National Parks, said: Recreational opportunities for Zhetisu are not limited to short excursions. Sports, educational tourism, wildlife observation, fascinating events – in all these areas, the successful development of the tourism industry is possible. The development of tourist infrastructure is extremely important here, but it is not just communications and buildings - it is the creation and promotion of history, myths and legends, the unique beauty of the nature of the region. We hope to make the festival “Kulandar Mekeni” annual, and it should be followed by new formats that fit into the concept of sustainable tourism development.

Let me remind you that the area of the park is more than 300 thousand hectares, it is located in a desert territory surrounded by the ridges of the Dzungar Alatau, Aktau and Katutau mountains, the Ili River. The park was established in 1996. In order to preserve the unique nature, rare animals and monuments of historical and cultural heritage, Altyn-Emel National Park was awarded the international status of a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. According to legend, in 1219 the troops of Genghis Khan went through this valley, the commander saw the mountains with yellowed grass and exclaimed “Golden saddle!”. According to another legend, this name was given by the sons of Genghis Khan, who saw these places in the rays of the setting sun.

To the sounds of dombra and kobyz..

The festival was hosted by TV presenter, producer and popular blogger Anel Aliaskar. On the open-air stage, masters of stage combat demonstrated their art. During the “Aybalta show” the audience could see the skills of mastering the traditional Kazakh battle axe. The group “Topjargan” presented the acrobatic show “Bes Karu”. And when national instruments sound over the steppe, the audience hears how music picks up the breath of the wind, the rustle of the waves, the cry of a bird. Ethno-folk group Arkaiym impressed with its performance of shamanistic motifs and folk music in a modern reading. The game on the kobyz guests were fascinated by the incomparable Lyaila Tajibaeva. Vargan masters from Yakutia were invited as guests.

Musician, historian and philologist Erlan Espenbetov taught to write Turkic runes, artist Dauren Tasbulatov - to draw petroglyphs, master of crafts Saida Akhangari - to create decorations from felt. Scientific volunteer and military medic Rafael Hismatullin gave a lecture on safety in expeditions. Biologist Elena Udartseva held an eco-master class “Give a second life to the object”. At the craft fair, the masters presented products of traditional crafts and souvenir products.

In the room, stylized as a yurt, a hearth was built. The hostess cooked taba-nan on coals: after all, Kazakhs have an ancient custom of greeting guests with tea, hot cake with homemade butter and sour cream, in which it is impossible to turn a spoon.

And finally, we managed to see the herd of kulans from the tower, specially built for this purpose near the visit center. In 1879, scientist Przewalski discovered a new species of horse, and these are the last wild horses on earth. In Kazakhstan, they meet in the wild only in the national park. Kulan was exterminated in the early twentieth century, and in the 60s Kulans were brought from Turkmenistan to the island of Barsakelmes. Zoologists said that in the future the salinity of the water in the Aral Sea will increase, the sea will become shallow, the island of Barsakelmes will merge with the mainland and the kulans will flee. So it was decided to transport kulans to Altyn-Emel, and several dozen animals became the main breeding stock for reproduction.

The festival “Altyn-Emel – Kulandar Mekeni” demonstrated that the principles of an eco-saving approach to the interaction of man and nature can become a reliable basis for the full-scale disclosure of the tourism potential of our country, an excellent case on which the development of event tourism on the scale of the national economy is possible.