The eighth edition of the Crown Prince Camel Festival 2026 kicked off with a historic turnout at Taif's heritage racetrack, where the exclusive "Saudi Production" races saw a record 921 camels competing on opening day, underscoring the effectiveness of the developmental strategies spearheaded by the Saudi Camel Federation under the leadership of Prince Fahd bin Jalawi bin Abdulaziz bin Musaid.
This exceptional participation aligns with the federation's strategic decision adopted in early August to allocate dedicated races for locally bred camels, granting Saudi owners ample preparation time before the festival's commencement, all in line with the goals of Saudi Vision 2030 to empower local owners and producers and boost investment in national bloodlines.
During the morning session, 921 camels vied across 21 heats for the "Haqa'iq" category (males and females) over a 2-kilometer distance, with the female camel "Ghazlan" owned by Saad Amer Saad Al-Fuhaidah Al-Mari clocking the best time of 2:55.977 minutes at an average speed of 40.914 km/h, while the overall average time across all participants stood at 2:59.680 minutes.
The festival features 37 races dedicated to "Saudi Production," split between the Haqa'iq category (21 morning heats) and the Laqaya category (16 heats scheduled for next Sunday morning), with the federation allocating 3.3 million SAR in prize money distributed among the top ten finishers in each race, alongside a newly introduced 500,000 SAR award for the owner accumulating the most points across both general and Saudi Production races, a move designed to further incentivize Saudi participants.