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Desert
Festival
Once a year in winters and on the middle of the continually rising
and falling stark yellow sands of the great Thar Desert, the empty
sands around Jaisalmer come alive with the brilliant colour, music
and laughter of the Desert Festival.
The festival is organised by the tourist authorities as tourist
entertainment around January-February.
The very rich and colourful Rajasthani folk culture is on show
here for a few days. Rajasthani men and tall beautiful women dressed
in their brightly costumes dance and sing lingering ballads of valour,
romance and tragedy. Traditional musicians attempt to outdo each
other in their musical superiority.
The high points of the festival are - snake charmers, puppeteers,
acrobats, folk performers do rapid trade. Camels, the lifeline of
the desert, play a foremost role. Proud moustached villagers, dressed
in their ethnic best come astride their picturesquely caparisoned
camels to join in the camel dances and competitions of camel acrobatics,
camel races and décor, camel polo, tug of war and the like.
The tourist dances, turban tying competitions and tug of war are
big draws and laughter. The Mr Desert competitions, which are focused
around the length of moustaches by and large, attract many hopefuls.
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