Dhafra Camel Festival - CAMEL BLING-BLING

Note to readers: This is part one of a three part series about our adventure to the Al Dhafra Camel Festival. Top 10 Tips for Enjoying the Al Dhafra Camel Festival, Camel Bling-Bling and How to Judge a Camel Beauty Contest. 

Prized camel beauty contestants showing off their bling-bling.

In all beauty pageants what one wears is most important. Beauty contestants usually get decked out in flowing evening gowns and skimpy swim suits. But camel beauty contestant dress in dazzling bling-bling called hatat. The hatat is artfully draped over the hump and around the neck and face like precious jewels. Actually, some are jewelry as they are made with real gold and semi-precious stones

Roger and I are at the Al Dhafra Camel Festival located just passed Madinat Zayed in the desert off Abu Dhabi Island. Among the many events at this two-week long celebration are camel beauty contests. It is astounding that more than 25,000 camels come from neighboring Gulf countries to compete. And it is even more astounding that in the offering is AED 66,000,000+ ($1,798,365) in prizes for the various contests held during the festival. All this is enticing, but I am most intrigued with the camel bling-bling – a huge business here.  

Top 10 Tips for Enjoying the Al Dhafra Camel Festival, Abu Dhabi, UAE

Note to readers: This is part one of a three part series about our adventure to the Al Dhafra Camel Festival. Coming soon are Camel Bling-Bling and How to Judge a Camel Beauty Contest. 

Stay tuned.

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Al Dhafra Camel festival Million Street parade. See Tip#10

There is an art to enjoying a camel festival . . .

If you are looking for an authentic Arab experience, the Dahfra Camel Festival is a must see.

This celebrated festival occurs the last two weeks of December in a desert camp city that sprouts up just outside of Madinat Zayed about a 2 hour ride into the desert from Abu Dhabi. This is a serious festival. At the 2013 Festival, the winners of the various festival competitions took home 50 million dirhams ($13,623,978+) in prize money including 198 top-of-the-line SUVs.    

In 2012, Roger and I ranked this camel festival #2 in our 2012 Top Adventures In and Around Dubai; for 2013 it will retain its #2 slot. We just love getting down with the natives!

So here are my Top 10 Tips for enjoying the one-and-only Dhafra Camel Festival: