UAE

ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - DECEMBER 17, 2018. Judges assessing the camels beauty on day 1 of Al Dhafra Festival. Camels are marked out of 100 by five judges, with points allocated for each body part. Legs must be long, ears pert, eyelashes curled and the hump properly placed on the lower back. Every December, a small city of tents rises in the dunes of the Empty Quarter, 170 kilometres south-west of Abu Dhabi on the edge of the world’s largest continuous sand desert. About 20,000 camels and their 15,000 owners compete at the Al Dhafra Festival, one of the world’s largest beauty pageants. It is distinguished by its "queens", long-lashed beauties with four legs and a hump. The prizes are not crowns but Range Rovers, Nissan Patrol pickups and, for the best, immortalisation in Bedouin poetry. (Photo by Reem Mohammed/The National) Reporter: Haneen Dajani Section: NA
Judges assessing camels for their beauty on the opening day of Al Dhafra Festival 2018. Reem Mohammed / The National

Nine of the best videos from The National in 2018

Take a look at the best videos produced by The National's multimedia team in 2018

The National

December 25, 2018

1. Life behind the wall: A look at Palestinians' struggle for survival

2. New Yorkers navigate extra security for UN General Assembly

3. The 'Super Bowl' of camel pageantry

4. The formation of the Middle East after the First World War

5. Testing out Dubai's floating supermarket

6. Dubai's human slingshot opens at Kite Beach

7. How an Emirati falcon breeder is tackling trafficking

8. Oman's turtles battle for survival 

9. Dune bashing in the UAE

UAE