Since the 24th Annual Kuwait International Camel Racing Championship starts today, I thought it would be the perfect time to share these photos taken by Mark Lowey in 1988.
Mark Lowey (also known as AbuJack) worked for the Kuwait National Petroleum Company and lived in Kuwait with his wife from 1985 to 1988. One Friday on his day off, Mark and a friend headed to the camel races, where he captured a number of photos. This was during a period when camel jockeys were mostly children, a practice that was later banned in the 2000s.
Mark actually put together a photo essay from that day, complete with a detailed write up, but it was published on the Aramco Expats website, which shut down a couple of years ago. Luckily I still had some of the photos saved from when I first shared his photos on my blog back in 2021.
Also, for those of you interested in the camel racing championship, it’s taking place from February 7 to 12 and I’ve shared the schedule below.
Saturday, February 7
Morning Races start at 8AM
Afternoon Races start at 3:30PM
Sunday, February 8
Morning Races start at 8AM
Afternoon Races start at 1:30PM
Monday, February 9
Morning Races start at 8AM
Afternoon Races start at 1:30PM
Tuesday, February 10
Morning Races start at 8AM
Afternoon Races start at 1:30PM
Wednesday, February 11
Morning Races start at 8AM
Afternoon Races start at 3:30PM
Thursday, February 12
Races start at 1:30PM
Here is the location of the race track on Google Maps.