In UAE desert, camels compete for crowns in beauty pageant

By ISABEL DEBRE
Associated Press

LIWA, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Tens of thousands of camels from across the region have descended on the desert of the United Arab Emirates to compete for the title of most beautiful. The annual camel beauty pageant in southwestern UAE drew thousands of breeders this week, despite the coronavirus pandemic dampening typical festivities. The festival celebrates and seeks to preserve the Emirates’ Bedouin heritage. But traces of modern life are ubiquitous — from banned Botox injections to enhance the camels’ features to Instagram livestreams to drum up enthusiasm. The contest remains a holdover of the past for a society upended by oil wealth and international business that’s home to futuristic, skyscraper-studded Dubai and Abu Dhabi.