Every year in October/November an astonishing 50,000 camels converge on the small holy town of Pushkar, in the Rajasthan desert, for the Pushkar Camel Fair.
For five days, the camels are dressed up, paraded, shaved, entered into beauty contests, raced, and traded. A huge carnival is held, with an array of musicians, magicians, dancers, acrobats, snake charmers and carousel rides to entertain the crowd. Quirky indeed!
Find out more about the Pushkar Camel Fair.
How to Get There: Pushkar is located around 45 minutes drive over a hill from Ajmer, in Rajasthan. Buses and taxis are available. Ajmer is readily accessible by train from many places in India.
If you can't make it to the Pushkar Camel Fair, a similar camel fair is held in Bikaner in December. The festival kicks off with a procession of camels decorated in their finest attire, and continues on with camel beauty pageants, camel races, and camel dancing. Who ever thought camels could dance? It's worth attending the festival just to see that performance! The festival ends with entertainment by Rajasthani folk artists, and fireworks.
