10 photos from India’s latest ‘Pushkar Mela,’ an annual camel trade fair also famous for the longest moustache contest

Nov 20, 2018, 14:56 IST

^{(Photo Source : Rajasthan Tourism)}

The camel trade fair is held annually in one of the oldest cities in India.
The five day long fair began 150 years ago with an aim to boost livestock trading in the region.
Today, thousands to tourists along with camel buyers and sellers participate fair activities including camel dancing.

India’s traditional camel trade festival, also known as the ‘Pushkar Fair,’ held annually in the state of Rajasthan, recently brought together nearly 50,000 camels decked up for what has become a popular tourist attraction.

Camels are dressed up and paraded during the festival and made to participate in several contests including dancing.

The camel trade festival, or popularly known as ‘Pushkar Fair,’ is an annual trade festival celebrated in the historical town of Pushkar in Rajasthan. The three to five-day long trade fair is celebrated in November each year.

Here are pictures from the on-going camel trade fair in India:

The festival begins with traders buying or selling camels and horses on a large scale with a religious carnival to conclude the festivities.

Every year, around 50,000 camels along with thousands of camel farmers, musicians, folk dancers, and 200,000 tourist descend down in the festival.

The Pushkar Camel Fair began over 150 years ago to boost trading in the region, with camel buyers and sellers from as far as Afghanistan attending the fair.

Today, the festival has become more of a tourist attraction than an actual trade fair

Camels at the fair are decked with colourful accessories and made to compete in beauty and dancing contests.

The festival also features a camel race

Camels competing for beauty while unique is accompanied by an even quirkier contest involving men competing for ‘longest mustache’.

A hot air balloon ride is also a popular tourist attraction at the fair.

The local government promotes the dying art of puppetry at the fair.

Indian musicians perform live at the ‘Pushkar Fair’

The ‘Pushkar Fair’ is one of the world’s largest camel fairs.Another big camel fair is the King Abdulaziz Camel Festival that takes place in Rumah, Saudi Arabia.

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