114 racing camels worth an estimated SR270 million to SR492 million, or $72 million to $131 million, entered the four final rounds of the Crown Prince Camel Festival in Taif, the Saudi Press Agency reported. The closing spectacle, wrapped in royal patronage and prize money, turned animals into assets and racing into a display of who gets to command wealth, prestige and attention in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf.
Royal Patronage, Market Logic
The festival’s closing program featured four championship races, with 35 camels entered in the first round, 13 in the second, 46 in the third and 20 in the fourth. The event was organized by the Saudi Camel Federation under the patronage of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and offered SR50 million in prize money. Leading owners and competitors from across Saudi Arabia and the Gulf showed up for the final rounds, because even camel racing, apparently, needs a hierarchy, a patron and a cash prize to keep the machine humming.
The festival’s most prestigious trophies, Al-Saif (Sword) and Al-Bunduq (Rifle), go to the elite Hiyl (female camel) and Zumoul (male camel) championship races. Winning either title significantly boosts a camel’s prestige, breeding value and market price. Camel owner and racing specialist Abdullah Al-Sharif said the market value of a single camel competing in the Hiyl category typically ranges from SR3 million to SR6 million. In the Zumoul category, camels are valued at between SR1.5 million and SR2 million. Some elite camels command prices ranging from SR7 million to SR8 million, depending on racing record, results and bloodlines.
The Festival as Economic Machinery
Qualifying for the closing championship trophy rounds can significantly increase a camel’s value, Al-Sharif said, with previous achievements, breeding potential, lineage, prize money and the level of competition all influencing market prices. That’s the whole logic in plain sight: the race is not just a race. It’s a market, a status system and a royal showcase rolled into one, with the animals carrying the value while the owners and organizers collect the prestige.
Saudi Camel Sports spokesperson Murdhi Al-Khamaali said the festival has helped promote authentic Arab culture globally by bringing together traditions from Saudi Arabia, the Gulf and the wider Arab world. He said the event has grown beyond a sporting competition to become an economic, social and cultural movement, while also helping revive Taif’s historical and cultural heritage. Al-Khamaali added that bearing the name of the crown prince has transformed the festival into a cultural and economic destination for camel owners from across the Kingdom and the Gulf.
The language is grand, but the structure is familiar. A crown prince’s name, a federation, prize money, trophies, rankings and market values. The state and its patrons set the terms, then call the result heritage.
Records, Awards and Rankings
Since its launch in 2018, the event has attracted more than 100,000 camels and earned multiple Guinness World Records titles. The seventh edition in 2025 marked a major milestone, with participation surpassing 100,000 camels, building on the nearly 99,000 camels recorded across earlier editions. The festival was recognized by Guinness World Records in 2024 for hosting the world’s largest camel race, with 21,637 camels participating. Held during the Kingdom’s "Year of the Camel," the event highlighted the animal’s enduring cultural significance across the Arabian Peninsula.
The festival has also received several major accolades, including four Guinness World Records titles and the Makkah Economic Excellence Award in 2023, recognizing its contribution to cultural preservation, economic development and the promotion of Saudi heritage. The awards sit neatly beside the prize money. International validation, royal branding and economic promotion all arrive together, as they usually do when institutions want a celebration to look bigger than the people paying for it.
In a separate update issued ahead of the finale, festival results showed Saudi-owned camels leading the standings with victories in 131 heats during the eighth edition. Saudi-owned camels recorded 47 wins in the Al-Haqayiq category, 21 in Al-Laqaya, 15 in Al-Jadha’a and nine in Al-Thnaya, for a combined total of 92 victories. They also secured 35 wins in the Intaj Al-Saudiyya races and four in the Sibaq Al-Hajjanah category, bringing their overall tally to 131 wins. Emirati-owned camels ranked second with 35 victories, followed by Qatar with 27. Kuwaiti and Omani owners recorded three wins each, while Bahrain registered one victory. The scoreboard, like the festival itself, reads less like a folk gathering than a competition of owners, states and prestige economies dressed up as tradition.