Under the patronage of President of the UAE Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, on October 21, the 18th annual Al Dhafra Festival will start, which will continue until January 30, 2025. This event opens the season for the auction of purebred camels in Abu Dhabi and includes four stages: Sweihan, Razeen, Zayed City, and concluding at the Al Dhafra festival.
At the first stage of the festival, "Beauty Contest in Sweihan," 76 rounds of local, purebred, and hybrid camels will be presented. The competitions will take place at the legacy site of Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed in the Sweihan region. Alongside the competition, there will be many retail shops on the market offering products that promote Emirati heritage.
General-Pilot Faris Khalaf Al Mazrouei, Chief of Police in Abu Dhabi and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Heritage Authority, noted that the Al Dhafra Festival has become a key event for camel owners in the UAE and the CIS, attracting international visitors eager to immerse themselves in Emirati culture. He also emphasized the role of the festival in preserving cultural heritage, which was initiated by Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.
Within the framework of the festival, there will be 361 rounds of camel beauty contests and milking competitions, in which there will be a distribution of 3,460 prizes. Among the categories are: "Majahim," "Mahaliyat," "Muhajanat Asael," and "Al Wadh."
After this stage in Sweihan, the Razeen auction will take place from November 14 to 21, 2024, and the auction in Madinat Zayed will be held from December 12 to 19, 2024, concluding the Al Dhafra Festival Auction from January 11 to 30, 2025. Also, various breed competitions for heritage will be held during the festival, such as "Falconry Competition" and "Arabian Horse Show."
