Ships of Desert Storm to Fore
It’s not unusual to see camels kicking up dirt at Indio’s Desert ExpoCentre.
Camel races have been a part of Riverside County’s National Date Festival since it began 45 years ago. But it took a war in the Middle East for the one-humped creatures to find their place in the Indio sun.
In the past, competitions between the desert beasts have not been terribly popular, but sold-out crowds of 3,500 packed the arena for the races’ 10-day run this year, said festival spokesman Bill Arballo.
“They’ve seen camels in the Middle East and so they’ve become more interested,” Arballo said.
For the $1 admission, spectators watched three or four camels pound around the dirt arena in two shows per day. Professional riders, in keeping with the festival’s Arabian theme, draped themselves in traditional Middle Eastern garb.
The camels sprinted around the track in races that lasted less than a minute. The festival concluded Sunday night with an Arabian Nights pageant.
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