Mongolia promoting traditional clothing, attracting tourists

AKIPRESS.COM - The annual festival of "Mongolians in Deel" was held in Mongolia's capital on July 10 with the aim to boost tourism and encourage the younger generation to wear traditional clothing, Xinhua reported.
"We are organizing the festival for 13th year in a row in order to attract more foreign tourists by promoting the Mongolian national clothing and tradition internationally. We also believe that the festival has great importance to encourage the younger generation to wear traditional clothing," Dagvajamts Batsukh, head of the Mongolian capital Ulan Bator's tourism department, told reporters during the festival.
Around 2,500 people dressed in traditional costumes, including more than 30 participants from China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous region and Russia's Republic of Tuva, participated in the festival, Batsukh added.
The event includes a fashion parade, the best deel contest and a folk music concert.
Deel is an item of traditional Mongolian clothing commonly worn for centuries.
There are some differences between the costumes of various ethnic groups in the country, but all the deels have the same shape, featuring long sleeves, a wide flap that gets folded at the chest, buttons on the right shoulder, a high collar, and a fabric belt around the waist.
The Mongolian traditional costume consists of a deel, a hat, boots and accessories.