Last updated: October 2026 · Method: desk research across published sources and visitor reports; nothing first-hand, confirm locally.
The Camel Fair programme runs on two tracks: livestock-ground competitions on one side and the cultural calendar that peaks at Kartik Purnima on the other.
This page covers the programme of events at the Pushkar Camel Fair, from competitions to ritual baths.
The events
- The competitions: camel races, the moustache contest and turban-tying, in the fair-games mould.
- The cultural: the folk dance evenings and the music performances.
- The spiritual: the Kartik Purnima bath, the fair’s sacred heart.
The competitions are the photographed half: camel races, the moustache contest and turban-tying, staged for the crowds that grow as the fair builds. The cultural programme layers folk dance evenings and music performances across the festival days, much of it free and much of it on stages near the fair ground. The spiritual track needs no ticket: the Kartik Purnima bath at the ghats is the fair’s sacred heart and the reason the whole calendar exists. Plan around the full moon and let the rest of the programme fall where it does.