Calendar / Shandur Polo Festival
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Witness / Attend in Shandur
Shandur Polo Festival
No upcoming edition on the calendar yet — the recurrence below is what we know.
Organized by Tourism, Sports, Culture, Archaeology and Museums Department, Government of Gilgit-Baltistan, which publishes the official dates and program.
Dates & details verified against: Regional tourism board ↗
Why go
The Shandur Polo Festival is the highest polo tournament on earth, played each summer on a natural turf ground at 3,700 metres on the Shandur Pass, the watershed between Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral. For three days the teams of Gilgit and Chitral meet in freestyle polo, the wild original form of the game with almost no rules and no umpire to speak of, to the beat of drums and surnai pipes. A tent city of several thousand spectators, players and traders springs up on the pass for the festival, with folk music and dancing in the evenings, trout in the nearby lakes and horsemanship on show all day. The setting is the draw as much as the match: a green shelf of grass ringed by bare peaks, reached only by a long, rough mountain road from either side. It is one of the great spectacles of the Karakoram, a local event that draws travellers from Europe, America and the Gulf without ever becoming a packaged show.
When it runs
The Shandur Polo Festival runs for three days at the Shandur Pass, traditionally on 7 to 9 July, and is jointly organised by the governments of Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The dates shift in some years around the Islamic month of Muharram: the 2026 edition was moved to 11 to 13 June. Confirm the year's dates with the Gilgit-Baltistan tourism department before travelling. Upcoming: 11 to 13 June 2026.
- Ran Jun 11–13, 2026Shandur Polo Festival 2026
Dates read confirmed where the organizer has published them, and expected where we've projected the recurrence. Always verify with the organizer before booking.
What to expect
The festival falls in early summer, and the pass at 3,700 metres is cold at night and can see rain or even snow, so warm layers and a good sleeping bag matter if you camp. Days are bright and the sun is strong at altitude. Almost everyone sleeps in the festival tent village or in tents brought by operators, since there is no permanent accommodation on Shandur. The road in is long and rough from both the Gilgit and Chitral sides and can wash out, so allow buffer days around the fixed festival dates.
Getting there & around
Shandur is reached by a long 4WD day on rough road from either Gilgit-Baltistan or Chitral. The approach used for this listing is from the Gilgit side, up the Ghizer valley through Gupis and Phander to the pass, around eight to ten hours from Gilgit. There is no accommodation on Shandur itself, so operators bring tents and set up in the festival camp, and you need warm bedding, a food supply and a capable vehicle. Access from the Chitral side crosses into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Confirm the year's dates and the road and security situation before committing, as both can change.
Where it happens
Shandur, Pakistan.
Want to go? The full Shandur guide: conditions, logistics, providers →