World's most beautiful camel to be crowned in £25m

The world's most beautiful camel will be crowned with a staggering £25 million prize at a Saudi pageant-style contest. More than 300,000 of the desert animals will be judged on their features when they descend on Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for the King Abdulaziz Camels Festival later this month.

Festival spokesperson Dr. Talal Al Torifi said: ‘Judges are on the look out for untouched natural beauty with prizes awarded throughout the festival.
From the Al Wadah white camel to, the Al Majahateer dark camel and the Al Homor reddish, brown camel, various features considered most beautiful to each breed are closely assessed to determine the deserving winners.
These include the size of the camel's head, whether the lips cover the teeth, the length of its neck, to the roundness of its hump.
 
The criteria also covers the size of its eyes, how the long lashes are, how the nose droops, whether the ears stand back, how high the hump is and where the hump sits.
Judged by a committee of selected Bedouin, winning camels have become highly desirable, fetching millions of pounds in price whilst also leading to dramatic increase in prices of camels across the stock market. 

As well as parades for the most beautiful camel, the King Abdulaziz Camels Festival  will include entertainment such as poetry, folk songs (shalat), feasts and camel auctions throughout the month long festivities. All aspects of the festival will be noted, from entrance of the camel, to conduct of the owner, festive happenings and attendee acceptance
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This annual national festival looks to strengthen traditional practices, connecting the new generations to the old as a reflection of Saudi Arabia’s 2030 vision. In the build up to the festival, which runs from March 19 to April 15, prices of camels within the stock market boomed by 70 per cent.

Meanwhile in previous years winning camels have fetched millions of dirhams in price at the contest, managed by Saudi’s King Abdulaziz Darat.
In an ancient tradition, men gather to parade their finest camels at best in-show events, with the festival attracting over 2 million people from across the globe throughout its time, including royalty, celebrity, designers and athletes. 
Still recognised as essential to desert life and also a reflection of social standing and wealth, thousands of proud camel owners from throughout the GCC travel annually with hopes of their camel strutting their stuff and shining at the camel beauty pageant style King Abdulaziz Camels Festival.