Camel Festival

Location: Near Junagarh Fort in Bikaner, Rajasthan.
Significance: Dedicated to the Ship of the Desert, Camel
Time of Celebration: January.

The Camel festival, annually held during the winter months in Bikaner, Rajasthan, India under the aegis of the State Government Tourism Department is perhaps one of the most vibrant and finest expressions of the Rajasthani spirit and desert splendor.
Luxury Rajasthan Travel endeavors to guide you through this thrilling Camel festival and offers you an array of travel packages that offer you delightfully affordable bargains and tour options to Bikaner, Rajasthan, India.
A procession of heavily bejeweled camels inaugurates the Camel festival of Bikaner, Rajasthan, India with the Junagarh Fort as the picturesque backdrop. This magnificent display of camels walking in sync to the rhythm of the tinkling anklets proceeds into an open sand area where the actual Camel fair is held for two days at a stretch.
The vast sands are dotted with colorful desert tents with stalls selling ethnic tit-bits, trinkets, sweetmeats and tea made of Camel milk. Luxury Rajasthan Travel arranges for you to revel in festal enjoyments by participating in camel rides, watching folk art performances, puppeteers and jugglers. You get the unique opportunity to cheer your favorite camels as they participate in the fiercely competitive camel races that are organized during this Camel festival in Bikaner, Rajasthan, India.
On both days of the Camel festival held in Bikaner, Rajasthan, India your day ends with a cultural gala with folk dancers dancing in perfect rhythm to the folk music played by the locals, fireworks light up the sky and the moonlit desert sands reflect the colors of the becharming fireworks and colorful splendor of the folk artists.

Camel Festival Activities

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 organized The camels display amazing footwork, dancing gracefully to the slightest direction of their drivers. Colourful bridles, bejeweled necks, jingling anklets and long, lanky camel shadows on dusky sands, cast a magical spell.
In this festival tea and sweets prepared by camel milk are made available to the visitors interested in enjoying them.
On the second day, the fleetest camels of the region take part in the camel races. The competition is fierce as the best camels vie for the honors. Thousands of excited tourists and locals cheer the favorites.
On both days, the evening ends with a rendezvous with the renowned folk artists of Rajasthan. The jubilant, skirt swirling dances, the awe inspiring fire dances and many other equally interesting performances entertain the visitors. The grand finale is a magnificent display of fireworks which illuminates the desert city of Bikaner.

Feature:
• The festivity starts with a beautiful procession of these innocent looking beasts. All of them are decked up in embroidered cloths, ornaments and colors.
• A host of competitions are lined up which includes tug of war, camel races, camel dance and acrobatics.
• The main attraction of the event is the graceful dancing of the camels to the rhythmical tunes of the musical instruments. The onlookers are just charmed by the grand event.
• In the evenings, the professional folk dancers, jubilant skirt swirling dancers, fire dancers put up a spectacular dance and music extravaganza.
• The festival culminates with an awesome fireworks display lighting up the Junagarh Fort in the background and creating a charming spectacle.

Season

The best time to visit Bikaner to enjoy the delightful Camel Festival is during the winter month of January.

How To Reach

Flight : Does not have an official airport. However, from November to March the Indian Air Force airfield is opened to the civilians for flights to and from Bikaner. The Airport is called Nal and is 10 km from Bikaner.
The nearest major operational Airports are Jodhpur & Jaipur.

Train : Train services are considered regular and good in Bikaner. Connectivity to major cities is enjoyed.

Road : Well maintained National highways link Bikaner to all the major cities. State run bus services as well as private services are available.