Twenty days of celebrating the UAE’s cultural heritage draws to a close on Wednesday at the ninth Al Dhafra Camel Festival in Madinat Zayed.
The festival featured 103 camel beauty competitions (including the first exclusively for Emirati owners), and camel, horse and Saluki races, falcon shows and prizes worth Dh55 million.
Held in a souq in the Western Region city, the festival drew thousands of spectators and 4,000 camel owners (with 35,000 camels) from across the Arabian Gulf.
The festival also featured local food, handicrafts and classic cars competitions.
“We had people who came to the festival just to check the prices of camels, looking to either sell or buy them,” said Mohammed Al Muhairi, the festival’s director of camel beauty competitions.
“The highest amount ever fetched by a camel in the history of the festival is Dh15m.”
Michael Shannon, an Australian visiting the festival with his family, said he was impressed by Emiratis’ knowledge of camels.
“It’s amazing how much care people have and how knowledgeable they are about camels,” he said.
“These judges for the camel beauty competition need just a glance at a camel and they would tell you its age, state of health and whether it is purebred or not. That’s impressive.”
Christina Koester, a German resident of Sharjah for 10 years, was at the festival for the first time.
“We were lucky to go to the camel beauty competition just as they were announcing the winners. People just burst out with joy, singing, dancing and throwing their ghutras in the air,” she said.
Attractions for children included theatre performances, competitions, and heritage and art workshops.
“The weather is beautiful, the camels are pretty, the children are running about happily. How can anyone not enjoy the festival?” said Mahmoud Abdulaziz, an Egyptian resident of Abu Dhabi. “It’s a great and welcoming break from the city and the malls.
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