Bikaner Camel Festival is an annual festival dedicated to the ship of the desert. Organised by Rajasthan Tourism in the month of January, the celebrations include camel races, camel milking, fur cutting design, best breed competition, camel acrobatics and camel beauty pageants. The camels themselves are beautifully bedecked and form a colourful spectacle against the red backdrop of the Junagarh Fort. There's plenty of scope for eating, souvenir-shopping and photography at this festival. Other sights to watch out for include the skirt-swirling folk dancers, fire dancers and the spectacular fireworks show that lights up the night sky above the fortified Desert City.
The Kite Festival is a bright celebration unique to Rajasthan. This festival is a wonderful spectacle as kites take to the sky all across the state. While one can enjoy colorful kites in a variety of shapes and sizes, the celebration looks truly spectacular in the evening, when fireworks alongside kites with lights in them, brighten the city’s skyline. Celebrated across the state of Rajasthan, the festivities peak in Jaipur. If you enjoy kite flying, you should visit the city on or around 14th January of any year. On this occasion, the Department of Tourism organizes a festival where tourists can enjoy kite flying along with various cultural performances.
The Nagaur Fair is the second biggest fair in India. Held every year between the months of January and February, it is popularly known as the Cattle Fair of Nagaur as this is where owners gather to trade animals. Approximately 70,000 bullocks, camels and horses are traded every year at this fair.
The animals are lavishly decorated and even their owners dress up with colorful turbans and long moustaches. Besides cattle, sheep, horses and even spices are traded. Other attractions include the Mirchi Bazaar (largest red chilli market of India), sale of wooden items, iron-crafts and camel leather accessories. Several sports are also held during the fair. These include tug-of-war, camel races and bullock races. Nagaur fair is also famous for its jugglers, puppeteers, storytellers, etc.
Baneshwar Fair is a popular tribal festival held in the Baneshwar Temple of Dungarpur. This festival, held on the full moon day of February or Magh Shukla Purnima, attracts a large number of tourists. On this pious occasion, Bhils travel all the way from Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh to take a dip at the confluence of the rivers, Mahi and Som. In addition to this fair, the Vagad Festival is also one of the popular celebrations of Dungarpur. This festival showcases dance forms and music from the region. Holi, the popular Hindu festival, is celebrated
Once a year, the empty sands around Jaisalmer come alive with a mesmerising performance on the sand dunes in the form of the Desert Festival. The festival, organised by the Department of Tourism around January-February, goes on for three whole days and lets you enjoy the rich and colourful Rajasthani folk culture. Rajasthani men and tall, beautiful women dressed in their best and brightest costumes dance and sing ballads of valour, romance and tragedy, while traditional musicians attempt to outdo each other to showcase their musical superiority. The high points of the festival are puppeteers, acrobats, camel tattoo shows, camel races, camel polo, traditional processions, camel mounted bands, folk dances, etc.