Beauty of the beast: 16,539 camels compete in pageant

One of the region's largest camel beauty contests kicked off this week in the northeastern town of Umm Ruqaiba with the participation of 16,539 male and female camels owned by 393 Saudis, 36 Kuwaitis, 26 Qataris and five UAE nationals.
The annual event was launched on Saturday and is expected to continue for several weeks.
The judgment panel of King Abdulaziz Festival for Camel Beauty has classified competitors and nominated 10 of them for the first ranks. Prince Saud bin Mishal bin Abdulaziz, vice supervisor general of the contest, inspected the festival committees’ work at the beginning of the event.
The festival represents a dated popular heritage and has a historic value. It serves a large segment of society and has been contributing large economic revenues during the past years, said Prince Saud, speaking in a press conference before the launch of the festival. The festival will continue to be held in the coming years. More than 600,000 visited the event last year.
Chairman of the Saudi Allegiance Commission and head of the festival’s higher organizing committee, Prince Mishal bin Abdulaziz, has been supervising all facilities at the festival since it was held for the first time, the prince said, commending the efforts of all of those working in its committees for the past years.
Thousands of people flock to the site every day to watch the contest, where sales of camels are conducted every day. A bazaar is held on the sidelines of the contest. A number of restaurants and furnished tents are set up for the participants and guests.