The story
Batken Flower Festival in Batken
Each April for about two weeks, Batken province's Aigul Fest marks the blooming of the aigul, a rare red-and-yellow flower protected in Kyrgyzstan's Red Book and tied to a local legend of two ill-fated lovers. Residents and visitors walk the flowering slopes at Aigul-Tash together, often alongside Batken's separately organized Apricot Blossom Festival, which unfolds in the same general season.
For roughly two weeks each April, the rocky slopes around Aigul-Tash in Batken province erupt with the blooms of the aigul, a rare red-and-yellow bell-shaped flower whose name translates roughly to moonflower, and the local Aigul Fest gathers residents and visitors to mark the short window when the flower is visible.