Location: Near Junagarh Fort in Bikaner, Rajasthan.

Significance: Dedicated to the Ship of the Desert, Camel

Time of Celebration: January.

Attraction: Best Breed Competition, Tug-Of- War, Camel Dance, Acrobatics.

Organized by the Department of Tourism, Art & Culture of Rajasthan, Camel Festival is held every year in the desert land to attract tourists who love to see long-necked, hunch-backed camels dancing to the tunes and directions of their trainers. Their rhythmic footwork, decorative bridles, jingling anklets with a backdrop of massive Junagarh Fort made of red sandstone and dusky sands mesmerize the audience. Camels are undeniably an important beast of burden in the desert land and here you can see how proudly the breeders dressed in vibrant colors display their bedecked camels.

very Year in the Month of January Department of tourism, Art and Culture organise The Camel Festival, a lively and colourful event, in Bikaner Rajasthan. January is just the right month for a desert spree, and Bikaner just the right place to see the Ships of the Desert. In the camel country Bikaner, these desert leviathans pull heavy cart loads, transport grain and even work at the wells.

The Camel Festival begins with a colourful procession of bedecked camels against the red sandstone backdrop of the Junagarh Fort, the festivity advances to the open sand-spreads of the grounds, followed by the best breed competition, the tug-of- war contest, camel dance and acrobatics, etc.
Camel festival In Rajasthan

The festival starts with the procession of beautifully decorated camels. The procession heads towards the open sand grounds. Here, the festivities begin in earnest. The Camel Pageant is held on the first day wherein the camel owners show off their Camels' decorations and jewellery. Camel dance performances are also held. A competition for best decorated camel, fur cutting design, camel milking and the best camel hair cut is organised. The camels display amazing foot-work, dancing gracefully to the slightest direction of their drivers. Colourful bridles, bejewelled necks, jingling anklets and long, lanky camel shadows on dusky sands, cast a magical spell.

The evenings close with a different tenor and tempo altogether: a traditional rendezvous of renowned artistes of Rajasthan and the local folk performers. The jubilant skirt-swirling dancers, the awe inspiring fire dance, and the dazzling fireworks light up the fortified desert city of Bikaner.