Attended the ninth-annual King Abdulaziz Camel Festival in late December, held in the desert about an hour drive outside of Riyadh. Sadly, there were no camel races the day we were there, but we did get to see some of the camel beauty pageant. Most of our day was spent at the 'Cultural Village', where we experienced the best of Arab hospitality, participated in a variety of traditional crafts, and had plenty of opportunity to get up close and personal with the resident camels.
A camel beauty pageant you say!? Yep, it's a thing, and something taken very seriously here. If you've heard about such competitions at all, it's probably been about the scandals - owners have been known to use Botox to enhance the appearance of their camels' lips and noses, something most definitely against the rules (See: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-59593001).
Nearly 40,000 camels are said to compete at the King Abdulaziz Camel Festival each year - in racing, obedience competitions, and the beauty pageant. In total, the festival's prize fund is over $79 million (that's what it was in 2022), and it's been increasing every year. The prize fund is split between winners in six categories and at least ten crowned positions, including the crowning of a “Miss Camel.” This makes it the highest award value in the world for this type of event. In addition, participants are known to make million-dollar deals, meant to enhance their chances of winning; and the festival's camel market auctions export thousands of camels, together easily valued at over $2.5 million (in 2022).
During the festival, hundreds of camels are paraded in front of the judges, seeking to highlight their most beautiful features. We learned that the pageant begins with the camels being ranked and sorted by age, size, and color (the day of our visit, they were judging all dark brown camels). A camel's age is measured by its teeth, and they each must be digitally tagged with a microchip (instead of/or in addition to the more traditional use of branding). Some of the competitions even require blood testing to verify breed and genetic lineage; and veterinarians examine the camels for any signs of tampering (i.e., cheating) or diseases. If all else fails, apparently, there is also a time-honored safeguard. Before winners are announced, owners must swear on the Quran about a camel’s age and ownership.
Next, the camels are judged on the quality of as many as 22 body measurements. These include their long necks, the shape of their noses, their height, the characteristics of their hump and body, their gait, and the size of their ears, as well as general appearance and color. Each of these is scored to give a maximum total of 100 points. The ones considered the most impressive are said to be those with the fullest and drooping lips. The whole scoring process is qualitative, and (at least in some competitions) at no point do the judges write a score or explain the reasoning behind their decisions.
The camel beauty pageant. The voice you hear is the announcer calling a play by play of the judging.
Everything always stops for the call to prayer! Even the camel beauty pageant.
Mama camel and her 6-week old baby.
For one activity, they milked the mama camel, then shared tastes of the fresh milk with the guests. Baby wanted some, too!
These two were virtually inseparable.
One of the camel race tracks, which we crossed over, on our way to the festival grounds.
When we arrived in the morning, the wind was blowing so fiercely that it was almost sandstorm-level conditions. This is a view of our caravan of buses, after turning off the main (paved) highway towards the festival grounds.
A view of the camel beauty pageant underway.
Part of the camel beauty pageant.
Mama camel and her 6-week old baby.
6-week old baby camel.
6-week old baby camel.
Mama camel and her 6-week old baby.
The hospitality tent, where they served us traditional Arabic coffee, dates, and sweet cakes, as is tradition. And also demonstrated how the coffee was made in a Bedouin setting, including the use of the coffee pot to signal that coffee was being made, when it was ready, and when to come get it - i.e., using the coffee pot as bell.
A view of the cultural village. Each tent contained a different exhibit or activity.
The structures in the distance are the location of the camel beauty pageant, which we had visited earlier.
All the different flavors of camel in Saudi Arabia.
Camel rides were one of the activities available at the Cultural Village. I this photo, I love that the camel wrangler is totally looking at his phone.
Getting on a camel.
Getting on a camel.
For one activity, they milked the mama camel, then shared tastes of the fresh milk with the guests. Baby wanted some, too!
For one activity, they milked the mama camel, then shared tastes of the fresh milk with the guests. Baby wanted some, too!
We missed getting to see any camel racing. But on the way out, we passed the parking lot. The tent-thing in the distance is the racecourse grandstand.
Return to Saudi Arabia
