UMM RUQAIBA: As the cold night descended over the tents dotted together in the desert of Umm Ruqaiba, their occupants huddled around the warmth of their fires in anticipation as acute as any prior to a big match. Outside one man in a tightly wrapped headdress and a thick long coat raised his eyes to the stars, tapping his stick on the ground nervously. He knew there was only 48 hours to go. The fifth week of the King Abdul Aziz Camel Beauty Award Festival, held 350 km to the north- east of Riyadh in Umm Ruqaiba, has been plagued with rumors. Passed on through the holes of adjacent tents and sent further afield by mobile phone, anyone and everyone seem to have inside knowledge on who the winner would be. The man in the long coat tapped his stick expectantly. He knows that by the end of the week all the tents will be gone. “This camel beauty award is the biggest and most important,” said Sheikh Faraj Bin Dahman, who has animals competing in the “wadh” and “majaheem” categories. “It bears the name of the founder of Saudi Arabia, King Abdul Aziz, and every camel breeder wants to win it.” The final “camel walk” for the “majaheem” variety of beast was held Monday, the most expensive of the five categories being judged. Sheikh Hashr Al-Subai'i, who was victorious in the “Dhafra” variety of camel category and is expected by those in the know to reap further rewards, put on a display of over 100 camels at Umm Ruqaiba. His camels drew near to the panel of judges, stopped and turned and marched on, in a formation more reminiscent of a wedding procession, and with traditional verse and dance to accompany it for good measure. The contest this year has been riddled with unsportsmanlike practices, with breeders fearing being awarded lower winning positions, leading some to withdraw from the competition and others to try and rig results by underperforming and other tactics. Rumors say that the competition's organizers might be considering punishments for breaches of the rules. Sheikh Bin Dahman frowns at such activities. “Intelligent people know the moral value of taking part in the competition,” he said. “The real camel breeder doesn't care what position he comes in, but only about keeping it going. It is our heritage and comes from the heart of real life and our history. We are extremely proud of it.”
