Al-Sayahed, 4 Rajab 1447 AH (24 December 2025)

The Al-Tabaa competition concluded today as part of the tenth edition of the King Abdulaziz Camel Festival, after three days of contests that drew wide participation from camel owners and considerable engagement from visitors and enthusiasts of authentic camel heritage.

Al-Tabaa is one of the festival's most prominent heritage contests, built on the vocal bond between camel and owner, in which the owner uses specific chants and calls carrying particular meanings and commands, reflecting the deep, inherited understanding between humans and camels and the animals' capacity to respond and obey in varying conditions.

This unique heritage event demonstrates an owner's skill in controlling his camels using voice alone, as the animals follow him steadily even through the most difficult conditions and narrowest paths, in a scene that reflects the camel's intelligence and its bond with its owner, embodying an authentic facet of Saudi desert culture.

The competition committee set multiple competitive rounds in which each participant's camels underwent precise tests measuring their level of responsiveness and obedience, at varying degrees of difficulty that included changing routes, varied vocal commands, and how closely the camels followed their owner's directions, before points were tallied, final results announced and winners crowned.

The competition drew a strong crowd, with visitors keen to follow its proceedings closely, reflecting the standing Al-Tabaa holds as one of the authentic cultural traditions that the King Abdulaziz Camel Festival works to revive and introduce to new generations, as part of its varied programs that combine authenticity with competition.