Camel Festival Closes In Riyadh Under Patronage Of Custodian Of The Two Holy Mosques

The closing ceremony of the 3rd Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Camel Festival concluded on Sunday evening at the historic Al-Janadriyah Camel Race Track, with participation from 11 countries and under the patronage of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

Governor of Riyadh Region Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz attended the event, where Prince Faisal bin Bandar crowned the winning owners after the Royal Anthem was played, highlighting official support for camel racing as a heritage sport with strong regional and international presence.

Four competitive races took place over a distance of 6 kilometres, featuring 65 camels and drawing local and international owners, with cash prizes worth SAR75 million distributed across the race categories to winning participants from Saudi Arabia and abroad, reflecting the scale of the sporting programme.

The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Camel Festival is regarded as one of the Kingdom’s key annual heritage sports gatherings, bringing leading camel owners from Saudi Arabia and other countries into direct competition in events that link traditional culture with organised sport in a structured programme.

Festival organisers state that the event aims to strengthen the international standing of camel racing as an element of national identity, support the development of the sport, and demonstrate the Kingdom’s capabilities in staging large-scale events that meet high organisational and logistical standards.

Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki bin Faisal, Minister of Sport and President of the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee, received Prince Faisal bin Bandar on arrival, alongside SOPC Vice President and President of the Saudi Camel Federation Prince Fahad bin Jalawi bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and several Federation officials.

The Saudi Press Agency reported the event as part of continuing coverage of national sports and heritage activities, noting that the ceremony took place in the evening and that the SPA dispatch on the festival’s closing events was issued at 23:37 local time, 20:37 GMT.

With inputs from SPA