Celebrating Victory Day is taken seriously here in Kyrgyzstan, and Osh is no exception. In the morning a military parade honouring Veterans of the Great Patriotic War (photo 7) was held on the main square in front of the city’s administrative building with Lenin overseeing proceedings (photo 1). The afternoon was marked by a relatively rare opportunity to watch traditional Kyrgyz horse games at the Osh State Hippodrome – after the opening parade (photo 2) there were races of various sorts including kyz-kumay (photo 3), shows of horsemanship and the central attraction, kokboru, also known as buzkashi or, less elegantly but more descriptively, “dead goat polo” (photos 8 & 9), with a large good number of teams from different raiony competing, including the Uzgen players in photo 5. The crowd remained enthusiastic despite the heat, with people seeking out the best view of events (photos 4, 6 & 10)