The Festival
Rajasthan popularly known as the 'Land of Kings' boasts of Great Indian Thar Desert. Since time immemorial people use camels, also called the 'Ship of Desert' for exploring the unending expanse of desert. Even today camels are used in Rajasthan to pull heavy carts, transport grain and work at the wells. Every year a number of cattle festivals are celebrated in Rajasthan, the Camel Festival of Bikaner is one of them.

An annual event, the Camel Festival is organised in the month of January by the Department of Tourism, Art and Culture, Rajasthan. The Camel Festival showcases a number of lively and colourful events and it draws thousands of people from far and near. The festival provides a good opportunity to see the ships of the desert at their best. You can enjoy a spectacle of unusual camel performances during the festival that include camel races, camel dances, and the bumpy, neck shaking camel rides.

Legends
Historic record says that Bikaner was always an inaccessible land. During the ancient time the survival of the local people of the region was depended only on camels. In fact, the camels of Bikaner region were very popular for their unique characteristics including strength and beauty. Pages of history says that the Bikaner army had an elite camel corps known as the 'Ganga Risala' that took part in World War I and World War II as well.

The same 'Ganga Risala' camel unit was functional even after the independence of India and it actively participate in Indo-Pak wars. Often referred as the 'camel country, Bikaner still continues its bonhomie with camels. Still you can see the camels in this region used for pulling heavy loads on carts. Due to Bikaner's historic connection with camels, the Department of Tourism, Art and Culture chose to hold the Camel festival in the town.

The Celebration
The Camel Festival starts with the colorful procession of beautifully decorated camels. Organised against the picturesque backdrop of the Junagarh Fort, the procession head towards the open sand-spreads of the grounds. Some of the highlights of the camel festival include the best breed competition, the tug-of-war contest, camel dance and acrobatics.

On the first day of the festival the Camel Pageant is held in which the camel owners show off decorations and jewellery of their camels. During the festival camel dance performances are held in which the camels display interesting footwork and dance gracefully on the direction of their trainers. Besides the colourful bridles, bejewelled necks, jingling anklets and long, lanky camel shadows on dusky sands make the whole environs mystical.

Other camel related competitions namely the best decorated camel, fur cutting design, camel milking and the best camel hair cut are also organized. You may also savor the special sweets and tea prepared by camel milk during the festival. On the second day of the festival, the camels of the region take part in the races and vie for the honors. As the race begins thousands of visitors including locals cheer the camels.

On both days of the festival, the evening ends with special folk dances and music of the desert region. For entertaining the visitors local artists perform the skirt swirling dances, the thrilling fire dances and several other equally interesting performances. The Camel Festival commemorates with a magnificent display of fireworks which illuminates the desert city of Bikaner.

Camel Festival Date in 2008
21st - 22nd January