This one’s going to the be the biggest edition of the Al Dhafra Festival to date
The Al Dhafra Festival is coming back!
Running from 21 October to 8 February 2024, the 17th edition of the highly anticipated festival comes as part of the camel mazayna season in Abu Dhabi.
The event will be held under the organisation of the Cultural Programs and Heritage Festivals Committee – Abu Dhabi in cooperation with Emirates Heritage Club.
Slated to be the largest since its inception in 2008, the organising committee will be assigning a total of 361 rounds for all the participating camel breeds – an increase of 35 rounds compared to the previous edition.
The festival comes as a continuation of the efforts of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to support heritage preservation projects, promote and develop heritage festivals, enable camel owners to sustain the practice of breeding and caring for camels, and support falconry and purebred Arabian horses contests and other heritage competitions.
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An important part of the UAE’s culture, the festival will certainly highlight and pay homage to camels.
The camel mazayna competitions held in Abu Dhabi for purebred breeds are in the categories of Asayel, Majahim, Asayel hybrids and Wadh. The upcoming edition will include Sweihan mazayna, Razeen mazayna, Madinat Zayed mazayna and the concluding festival: Al Dhafra Festival.
Other competitions this time include the falconry competition, camel milking competitions, Arabian horse race, traditional Arabian saluki race, falcon beauty pageant and a Arabian saluki beauty contest.
Furthermore, the event will include a shooting competition, Al Naim sheep beauty pageant, date mazayna and packaging competition, sour milk contest, and camel sitting competition, in addition to a traditional market and desert camps, which all reflect the passion of the people of UAE and the Gulf region for such features of their heritage.
You don’t want to miss this one!
Date
21 October – 8 February
Location
Various
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