The story
Bakhtiari Nomad Festival in Shahrekord/Kuhrang
A provincial festival in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari that opens a window onto the Bakhtiari tribes' twice-yearly kooch, the migration of herding families between Khuzestan's lowlands and the highland pastures around Shahrekord and Kuhrang. Centered on the Malkanon departure ritual, it lets visitors see tent-pitching, felt-making, and pack-animal loading along one of Iran's most demanding pastoral routes.
Twice each year the Bakhtiari tribes load tents, hand-woven kilims, and herds of goats onto mules and cross the Zagros passes between the hot lowlands of Khuzestan and the cool highland pastures around Shahrekord and Kuhrang, a seasonal trek known locally as kooch.