Is your saluki’s fur finely feathered? Does your falcon’s beauty inspire poetry? Or are you just looking for a new camel for your herd?
If so, then get ready for the return of the the Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition (Adihex).
Typically held in September, the annual event will run early this year, from August 27 to 31, at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre.
For the past 17 years, the arrival of Adihex has provided a marker that winter is on its way and the camping season is about to begin.
The exhibition is a rare chance for city slickers to get a glimpse of desert life and bedu traditions.
It is also an opportunity for outdoor enthusiasts to show off their more unusual creations, be it a pole that rocks falcons to sleep, a motorcycle shaped like an Ajman stallion, gold tiaras for horses, or a six-metre gem-encrusted sword.
Shoppers with deep pockets can attend the camel auction to rub shoulders with the likes of Fatima Al Hameli, the first woman to participate at camel beauty pageants, or Hamed Salem, a famed trader from the country’s smallest and best camel breeding town.
Descendants of legendary race camels like Nassi and Ghazi will be paraded before them.
Visitors can also expect the usual line up of saluki and falcon beauty competitions and nabati poetry battles.
This theme of the 17th edition is Sustainable Hunting. This year’s event will include a seminar on the illegal trafficking of birds of prey.
Last year Adihex attracted more than 100,000 visitors from 120 countries.
