More than 30,000 camels are being prepped for the Mayazan al-Ibl heritage festival, set to take place between March 19 and April 15 in Riyadh.
The prestigious festival, which attracts over 2 million people from around the world, including royalty, designers and athletes, celebrates ancient traditions including Bedouin history and culture, and aims to preserve purebred Arabian camel strains.
One of the aims of the annual event is to connect new and old generations -as part of Saudi Vision 2030.
Camels, camels everywhere
Although the car has now become the preferred mode of transportation, families and tribes across the Arabian Peninsula continue to treasure the historic relation between man and camel.
Aside from color and breed, the beauty of a camel is judged according to these standards: the size of its head, the length of its neck, the roundness and height of its hump, where the hump sits, the size of its eyes, how the long lashes are, how low the nose droops, whether the ears stand back, and whether the lips cover the animals teeth.
A committee of selected Bedouins get to make the pick.
But, it’s not only about camels
It’s also about heritage. The festival will include cultural activities and entertainment such as poetry, folk songs (shalat), feasts, camel auctions, and the famous ardha dance.
Most competitors this year -80 percent to be exact- hail from Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh, and Eastern provinces. 20 percent are from the wider region, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar and Kuwait, according to Arab News.