Judging the beauty of the beasts is a family affair at camel festival
▶ A long neck, legs and lashes are just a few of the assets needed to shape up as a winner at Al Dhafra
Hamad Al Shamsi and his son, Mohammed, know a beautiful camel when they see one.
It must have a long neck and legs, a shapely hump, large head, thick lashes and a sleek, dark coat.
“Every part of the camel is evaluated,” says Mr Al Shamsi, 48, who has been judging camel beauty competitions for more than a decade.
“How wide the cheeks are, how long the lips are, how elevated the ears are and how straight the legs are.”
These details, which can be easily overlooked by the untrained eye, can mean the difference in millions of dirhams at events such as Al Dhafra Festival, which opened yesterday.
Winners of the camel beauty contest, who will be announced at the end of the month when the festival ends, will take home between Dh100,000 and Dh1 million in cash prizes.
Fifteen camels are selected as finalists for each of the categories, which are separated by age and type.
Those are medically examined to ensure none have had their looks illegally enhanced and that they are all in good health before whittling the list down to 10 winners for each category.
“The committee checks if their features have been tampered with, like if any Botox has been injected in the face,” Mr Al Shamsi says.
Mohammed, 16, points to three camels standing side by side and adorned in shiny lavender decorative necklaces.
“The camel in the middle is the most beautiful,” Mohammed says. “See how straight her leg is? And the space from the tip of the tail until the hump is just right, and the wideness of the hump. Look how it stands tall and the size of its neck.”
He and his father have been raising camels for as long as he can remember.
They keep about 70 beasts at their farm in Al Ain, most of which compete in races each week.
Mohammed learnt the trade from his father, having accompanied him to beauty pageants for years. He believes he will be ready to become a judge within a year.
Across the paddocks, camel owners perch anxiously on the bleachers, eyeing the selection process from afar and taking turns to pass round a pair of binoculars.
“Every year I come to the competition and bring my camels with me,” says Hamad Al Marri, 30, from Saudi Arabia, who walks down to calm his camel before the competition.
Back home, he and his brothers own about 100 camels.
“This year I am only participating with one camel,” says Mr Al Marri, a singer. “Since I was a child I have been brought up to love camels and all of those around me loved them too, and now the government is sponsoring such competitions. We love that.”
His camels have brought him victory twice before, earning first place at Al Dhafra last year and in 2016.
“I hope I will win again this time,” Mr Al Marri says.
He has a special trick for keeping his animals calm before competition – he sings to them. The folk songs he sings are known as shallat, and the verses are nabati poems chanted in a specific rhythm.
“I sing this to my camel to calm it down,” Mr Al Marri says.
He advises that those lacking confidence in their singing skills feed the camel, “calling it by its name and touching it so it will know that you are being friendly”.
“They can sense if you are angry by the way you talk,” Mr Al Marri says.
Back at the stands, three middle-aged men swap a pair the binoculars between them.
“We want to see who is getting eliminated,” says Fahad Al Hajeri, from Saudi Arabia.
He has three camels in this year’s contest.
“The reason is because there are good prizes, and it is a nice way to give the camels some attention,” says Mr Al Hajeri, 53, who lowers his binoculars and sits back, relaxed. “My two camels have been chosen.”
The committee checks if their features have been tampered with, like if any Botox has been injected in the camel’s face HAMAD AL SHAMSI Beauty pageant judge