Saudi: Camel Beauty Pageant Gathers Thousands of Visitors
- Publish date: Saturday، 14 January 2023
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The Mazayen Al-Ibl — the King Abdulaziz Camel Festival in Riyadh gathers thousands of visitors each year to witness the camel beauty pageant, one of the biggest events of its kind in the Middle East.
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The festival is made up of 75 camel competitions with prizes of up to SR100 million ($26 million). Participants are categorized by age, with competitions for degh (camels under the age of five) and jel (over the age of five). Candidates are divided into categories based on their color — mijahim (dark skinned) and maghateer (light skinned).
The lighter-skinned camels are subdivided into wodh (bright white), sheal (yellow), sofor (yellow with black humps), shiggih (white but less bright), and homor (red).
There is also a separate category for sawahil, or coastal, camels, distinguished by their red coloring, large heads, long necks, large bodies, and greater overall body length.
There are also purebred asayel camels. The most famous are the Omani, divided into asayel, hybrid (mehajjin), Al-Seairyat and Al-Awarik.
It was only after the Saudi Council of Ministers issued a decision in 2017 to formally regulate the event that it became a high-profile spectacle although it has been taking place for many years,.