JEDDAH: Over 30,000 camels will participate in the prestigious Mazayen Al-Ibl heritage festival and camel beauty contest from March 19 - April 15 in Riyadh.
The festival attracts over 2 million attendees worldwide, including royalty, celebrities, designers and athletes. Organized and managed by the King Abdulaziz Darat academy, the event is held to respect the role of camels in Bedouin history and preserve the purebred Arabian camel strains.
While the car may have taken over as a form of transport, historically and to this day, families and tribes across the Arabian Peninsula treasure their special relationship with the camel.
Camels were a main source of transport, a sturdy worker, a provider of cool shade, a reliable source of milk, and eventually of food and leather.
Still recognized as essential to desert life, and a reflection of social standing and wealth, thousands of proud camel owners from throughout the Gulf travel annually in the hope of their camel shining at the festival.
Judging is done by a committee of selected Bedouin who are considered experts and fully immersed in the ways and culture of Bedouin life.
Camels are assessed in five categories according to breed and color. Beauty is assessed by the size of the head, whether the lips cover its teeth, the length of its neck, the roundness and height of its hump, the size of its eyes, how the long lashes are, how the nose droops, whether the ears stand back, and where the hump sits.
This is the first year of e-registration for those looking to enter their camels into the competition, making registration easier across the region.
This has resulted in the camel stock market booming, and to a growth in interest in the festival, with over 75 percent of the participants not having entered before.
With 80 percent of competitors from Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh and Eastern provinces this year, 20 percent are from the wider region, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar and Kuwait.
Following strict regulations, not all registered camels that were entered for the competition have been accepted, with only purebred camels allowed. And despite owners outside Saudi Arabia being able to enter the contest, the camel must be kept within the Kingdom.
Overseen by the Saudi Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, teams of vets are enlisted to check the health of the camels, inserting a microchip into all those entering the festival to keep track of them throughout the competition and to collect data on camels from across the region.
The most popular breed to be entered for 2017 is Al-Maghateer, a dark yellowish to black camel typical to the region.
The festival will include other cultural activities and entertainment such as poetry, folk songs (shalat), feasts and camel auctions.
The aim of this annual event is to connect new and old generations as a reflection of Saudi Vision 2030.
Riyadh to host Mazayen Al-Ibl heritage festival
Riyadh to host Mazayen Al-Ibl heritage festival
Thousands in Lebanon benefit from KSrelief healthcare services
RIYADH: A project by Saudi aid agency KSrelief to improve healthcare services for Syrian refugees and their host community in Bebnine, Akkar Governorate, has continued in Lebanon.
Some 2,689 patients were seen at the Akkar-Bebnine Health Care Center in December with 6,194 services provided under pharmacy, laboratory, nursing, community and psychological health programs.
Of the total number of patients, 68 percent were women and 51 percent were refugees, reported the Saudi Press Agency.
Saudi Arabia’s KSrelief continues aid work in new year
- The work reflects Saudi Arabia's ongoing commitment through KSrelief to help those most in need
RIYADH: The Kingdom’s aid agency KSrelief has continued its humanitarian work at the start of 2025, the Saudi Press Agency reported recently.
In Syria, 892 families received food aid and health kits in the Afrin and Aleppo governorates of the war-torn country, benefiting 5,352 individuals.
The agency also distributed bags of flour, winter kits, and personal-care bags to 211 families in Syria’s Al-Rastan area, benefitting 968 individuals.
In Syria’s Rural Damascus governorate, KSrelief distributed bags of flour, food aid, personal-care bags, and shelter kits to 164 families.
In Pakistan, there were 2,821 food parcels, benefiting 18,638 people, distributed in the Bahawalnagar and Rahim Yar Khan areas of Punjab province, and the Hingol area in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
KSrelief also distributed 1,082 clothing vouchers to families in Palestinian refugee camps in Jordan’s Amman, Zarqa and Balqa governorates.
Saudi Museum of Contemporary Art to host ‘Manga Hokusai Manga’ exhibition
- Exhibition is homage to renowned Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai
The much-anticipated “Manga Hokusai Manga” exhibition will be held at the Saudi Arabia Museum of Contemporary Art in JAX Diriyah from Jan. 15 to Feb. 8.
Held in collaboration with the Embassy of Japan and the Japan Foundation, the exhibition, ratified by the Kingdom’s Museums Commission, will showcase the works of the renowned Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai.
It will highlight the history and evolution of manga, and provide a perspective on how Hokusai’s classical illustrations have influenced modern visual arts, the Saudi Press Agency reported recently.
Hokusai published his first collection of art in 1814, featuring sketches of “daily life, landscapes and whimsical creatures,” according to a post on X by the museum.
The Saudi Arabia Museum of Contemporary Art aims to foster cultural exchange between local and international creators.
Kingdom readies itself for 3 days of rain and high winds
- Warning of high waves along the Kingdom’s coastlines
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia is bracing itself for rainfall across most parts of the Kingdom over the next three days after the National Center for Meteorology issues warnings on Thursday.
In a weather bulletin, the NCM warned of downpours accompanied by winds of up to 60 kph, and the possibility of torrential rain and hail. High waves are expected along the nation’s coastlines.
The regions of Al-Jouf, the Northern Borders, and Hail will have rainy conditions on Friday and Saturday.
On Friday, rain is expected in the Tabuk and Madinah regions; on Saturday and Sunday in the Eastern Province, Asir and Jazan; and on Saturday in Qassim.
For the Riyadh and Al-Baha regions, rain is expected from Friday to Sunday.
The NCM urged the public to stay updated on the weather conditions in the Kingdom by checking the daily reports on its website, the Anwaa application, or its social media accounts.
Saudi Falcons Club CEO and Kazakhstan ambassador discuss ways to boost cooperation
RIYADH: The CEO of the Saudi Falcons Club, Ahmed Al-Hababi, met Kazakhstan’s ambassador to the Kingdom, Madiyar Menilbekov, in Riyadh on Thursday to discuss opportunities for cooperation and ways in which these might be enhanced to benefit mutual goals.
One of the topics was the Hadad Program, a leading initiative developed by the club with the aim of returning falcons to their natural habitats and saving the species from the threat of extinction.
Menilbekov praised the club for the important role it plays in enhancing falconry and preserving its cultural heritage.
The club said the meeting was part of its efforts to strengthen international partnerships in keeping with the goals of the Saudi Vision 2030 plan for national development and diversification.
