Culture & Events
Programme & Events
Cultural programming inside the conference — what's on, where, and when.
Ceremonies
Two ceremonies during COP17, and what the music, dance and ritual performed in them mean — written by the organizers, and reachable from the QR code printed for each day.
Opening Ceremony
Three works — a ceremonial dance, a chain of khoomei and a greeting with the khadag — and what each one means.
High-Level Opening
· 15 minutes
Five works, carrying the ceremony from Restore to Believe, and what each one means.
Blue Zone Cultural Programme
Inside the conference itself, for accredited delegates. The performances that open COP17 and the High-Level Segment, the banquets and receptions given by the President, the Prime Minister and the Speaker, and a pavilion of Mongolia’s UNESCO-inscribed heritage.
- 09:05
Performance for the opening of COP17
Grand Theatre of National Art
A ceremonial dance, the long song “Erkhem tör” and a chain of khoomei. The three works are explained in full on the ceremony page.
Plenary Hall16 minutes
- 09:05
Performance opening the event named for the President of Mongolia
Grand Theatre of National Art
The performance that opens the High-Level Segment, hosted by N. Undral. Its five works are explained in full on the ceremony page.
Plenary Hall15 minutes
- 13:00–14:20
Banquet given by the President of Mongolia
A thirteen-part programme for 250 guests, from the UNCCD Land Anthem to a set of Korean zither music.
Chinggis Khaan Museum
- 19:30provisional
Reception given by the Prime Minister
State Philharmonic
A sixteen-part programme for 250 guests, including music in all six official languages of the United Nations.
The Great Ger, Blue ZoneAn earlier plan gave 25 August, 18:00–20:30
- 14:00–17:00
Opening of the event named for the Speaker of Parliament
State Philharmonic
Opening with “Altain Magtaal”, the praise-song of the Altai.
The Mongolian Örgöö, Blue Zone
- 19:30
Reception given by the Speaker of Parliament
A twelve-part programme for 50 to 60 guests.
Blue Zone
- 19:30
Reception named for the Minister of Environment and Climate Change
State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet
A long song, the dance “Mongol Khatad”, the overture to Carmen and Calaf's aria from Turandot.
Shangri-La10–15 minutes
- 12:00–18:00
Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry event
State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet
Three sets across the day, either side of the afternoon breaks — Rossini, Bizet, Donizetti and Verdi alongside Mongolian song and dance.
Blue Zone
Intangible heritage pavilion
One form of Mongolia’s UNESCO-inscribed intangible cultural heritage at a time — the horse-head fiddle, long song, the limbe and tsuur, biyelgee dance, khoomei and the epic. The organizers give these in order and have not yet dated them.
- 1Хан хуурын эгшигMorin khuur
- 2Уяхан замбу тивийн наранLong song
- 3Талын салхиLimbe and tsuur
- 4Бие хэл хээBiyelgee
- 5Тэнгэрийн уриаKhoomei
- 6Уулсын эзэдTuuli
- 7Замбуу тивийн наранLong song and morin khuur
- 8Бие хэл хээBiyelgee
- 9Уулсын эзэдTuuli
- 10Тэнгэрийн уриаKhoomei
- 11Тууль хайлахEpic recitation, in the Khaadyn Ger
Green Zone Cultural Programme
The central stage in the National Garden Park, open to the public throughout the conference. Theatre, ballet, jazz, orchestral concerts and two runway shows, performed by Mongolia’s national companies.
Dates are the organizers’ schedule. Where it gives no time, the time shown is the one published on the official Culture & Events listing.
Running throughout
- 09:00–19:00
World Cultural Heritage in Mongolia
Photography and VR exhibition
Photographs of the impact of climate change on Mongolia's three UNESCO World Heritage sites, shown alongside a virtual-reality tour.
Green Zone
- Time to be confirmed
Green Zone Movie
Mongolian National Film Council
Green Zone
- 12:00–13:00
Don't Forget
Мартаж болохгүй
State Academic Drama Theatre
A stage work carrying one ecological message through Mongolian heritage: to stop desertification, we have to learn to be in relationship with nature again.
Green Zone central stage
- 18:00
Fast Is Over
Runway show
Mongolian brands set against fast fashion, showing clothes made to be worn long and to return safely to the earth.
Green Zone central stage
- 12:30–13:00
City Swing
Bayanmongol Big Band, State Philharmonic
Mongolian folk song and the standards of the twentieth century, rewritten for jazz band.
Green Zone central stage
- 18:00–19:00
Mongolian Classical
Монгол сонгодог
State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet
A gala of the finest Mongolian and world classical music, held under the name of Business Day.
National Garden Park
- 11:00
Dear Motherland Concert
Халуун элгэн нутаг
State Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, conducted by B. Batbaatar
Green Zone central stage
- 12:00–13:00
Don't Forget
Мартаж болохгүй
State Academic Drama Theatre
A stage work carrying one ecological message through Mongolian heritage: to stop desertification, we have to learn to be in relationship with nature again.
Green Zone central stage
- 12:00–13:00
Don't Forget
Мартаж болохгүй
State Academic Drama Theatre
A stage work carrying one ecological message through Mongolian heritage: to stop desertification, we have to learn to be in relationship with nature again.
Green Zone central stage
- Time to be confirmed
Beautiful Mongolia
Монголын сайхан орон
Grand Theatre of National Art
A grand national music concert drawing on Mongolia's history, its landscapes and the nomadic way of life.
Green Zone central stage
- Time to be confirmed
Mongolian Melodies
Монгол аялгуу
Morin Khuur Ensemble, conducted by N. Jigjiddorj
Green Zone central stage
- 11:00–12:00 and 17:00–18:00
Fashion 4 Land
Runway show
Sustainable design and responsible consumption on the COP17 runway, built around Mongolian cashmere.
Green Zone central stage
- 14:00
Echoes of the Earth
State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet
A gala of the finest classical and contemporary ballet, on the theme of the natural world and the mother earth. Programmed for Land Day.
National Garden Park
- Time to be confirmed
The Wonder of Mongolian Art
Монгол урлагийн гайхамшиг
Grand Theatre of National Art
Mongolia's traditional and professional arts together — the National Traditional Orchestra, the Ts. Sevjid dance ensemble and the N. Norovbanzad singers.
Green Zone central stage
Don’t Forget
Restore Nature, Inspire Hope
Эх байгалиа сэргээж, итгэл найдвараа бадрааяа
To express, through Mongolia's heritage and culture, one ecological message to humankind: that to stop desertification we have to learn to be in relationship with the natural world again.
The idea
We owe our children a healthy Earth to inherit. Humankind does not own nature, and is not its master. We are nature's living cells, its breath, its memory.
Desertification is not only a question of sand. It is forgotten memory, severed tradition, the voice of nature we have stopped listening to, and human greed.
What must we not forget?
This programme is as the organizers last set it out, and parts of it are still being settled — four events have no announced time yet, and one reception is given on two different days. Check the official Culture & Events listing for the latest times before you travel to a performance.