The Day of the Capital City of Kazakhstan is an official public holiday in Kazakhstan. It was established in 2009 and is celebrated on July 6 to celebrate the

capital city A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, Department (country subdivision), department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

Astana Astana, previously known as Akmolinsk, Tselinograd, Akmola, and most recently Nur-Sultan, is the capital city of Kazakhstan. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim (river), Ishim River in the north-central part of Kazakhstan, within the Akmo ...

(formerly known as Nur-Sultan). The holiday also coincides with the birthday of ex-President

Nursultan Nazarbayev Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev ( kk, Нұрсұлтан Әбішұлы Назарбаев, Nūrsūltan Äbişūlı Nazarbaev, ; born 6 July 1940) is a Kazakh politician and military officer who served as the first President of Kazakhstan, in off ...

. On 6 July 1994, the

Supreme Council of Kazakhstan The Supreme Council of Kazakhstan (), was a unicameral legislative branch in Kazakhstan that existed from 1993 to 1995. The Supreme Council succeeded the Supreme Soviet of the Kazakh SSR after the new Constitution of Kazakhstan was adopted on 28 ...

adopted a resolution to transfer the capital of Kazakhstan from Almaty to Akmola. On 6 May 1998, Akmola was renamed to Astana and gained status as the capital city. On 18 July 2008, the government approved a bill making Capital Day a state holiday.

Celebrations

On Capital City Day in 2005, Jastar Park on Dóńgelek Square was unveiled. Since 2009, the most famous brass bands in the country and around the world perform at the Astana Samaly International Festival. The day will end with fireworks over Yessil River embankment, as well as a city park. A

military tattoo A military tattoo is a performance of music or display of armed forces in general. The term comes from the early 17th-century Dutch phrase ''doe den tap toe'' ("turn off the tap"), a signal sounded by drummers or trumpeters to instruct innkeeper ...

known as the ''Eskeri Kernei'' ("Military Trumpet") International Festival is held on Capital City Day, held annually since 2012 under the auspices and support of the Nur-Sultan Mayor’s Office. It exists with the participation of

military bands A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind and percussion instruments. The conductor of a band commonly bears the tit ...

in the Military Band Service such as the Presidential Band of the State Security Service and foreign bands such as the Band of the Armed Forces of Mongolia and the

Brass Band of the Government of Tuva Tuva is a part of Russia, inhabited by a Turkic people. Tuvans are known abroad for ''khoomei'' (''xöömej''), a kind of overtone singing. Traditionally, Tuvan music was only a solo effort. The musician's intention was usually to emphasise timb ...

. The 2020 celebrations coincided with the 80th birthday of

. The celebratory events were held virtually due to the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

pandemic in the country.

References

Events in Astana Observances in Kazakhstan Public holidays in Kazakhstan Kazakhstani culture Summer events in Kazakhstan {{Kazakhstan-stub

Celebrations

See also

References