The village, sandwiched between the deserts of Al-Dahna and the planes of Al-Majma, is the venue of the annual camel beauty contest called “Muzayin Al-Ibl” in which camels from across Arabia vie to win the King Abdul Aziz Heritage Trophy.
Tribal elders, nobles and commoners line up on both sides of the 14-km sandy course to watch rare breeds of camels partake in this unique beauty pageant. The contest ground is deserted most of the year, but springs to life during the winter for just one month when the contest and its accompanying souk — where business deals worth approximately SR1.5 billion are made annually — come alive.
The souk, sprawling over an eight-km stretch, mostly specializes in items related to camel breeding. The souk also includes restaurants and stores selling warm clothes. The contest is conducted under the aegis of Chairman of the Allegiance Committee Prince Mishaal, who is also chairman of the Supreme Committee for Muzayin Al-Ibl.
Those unfamiliar with camels may not notice the difference between a prize camel and an ordinary one. However, the eye of the Bedouin is long accustomed to identifying beautiful camels.
A camel with a long flank is considered attractive; and the longer the flank the more pretty the animal is considered. The shape of the hump is another point of beauty. A protruded shank adds to the animal’s beauty. The neck should be straight and slender without any loose flesh or freckles. The distance between the hind legs and the fore legs is another factor considered by the judges. The size of the head and shape of the ears are some of the points of advantage in a contest.
Above all, the winning camels should have to be of excellent pedigree and judges should be experts in identifying a beautiful and high pedigree camel.
The contests are held for individual and group trophies. In the group contests, camels should be presented in groups of 30, 50, 80 or 100. After the lengthy elimination process, 10 camels and groups reach the final stage in which the best individual camel and group are selected.
A prize camel is bought at unbelievable high prices ranging between SR4 million and SR5 million. One Bedouin, Huza Abu Al-Ros, recently bought 15 camels for SR60 million at the Umm Ruqaiba souk. The owner of a camel is identified with the brands the animal carry and each owner has a distinct mark.
The contest for the most beautiful red camel (Al-Humar) started on Saturday. While the first day is set apart for groups of 30, the second day is for groups of 50, and the third and fourth days are respectively for groups of 80 and 100.
The contest for the Al-Sufr (yellow) category finished on Friday. Chairman of the judging panel is Prince Abdullah bin Saad bin Jalawi.
Meanwhile, Prince Mishaal ordered on Saturday the sacrifice of 100 camels to mark Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah’s successful treatment. Prince Abdul Aziz bin Mishaal and Prince Saud bin Mishaal are supervising the charity committee headed by Khamis Munaikher, which undertook the distribution of the meat to the poor and needy in Hafr Al-Batin.
