CAMEL Racing is coming to Coffs Harbour Showground on Saturday 21 August.

Having travelled around NSW, Camel Racing Down Under event founder, Monique Annetts from AMA Events Management told News Of The Area, “We chose Coffs for the population size and the site, it’s really good for this type of activity.

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“As a family event we need flat ground to run and house the camels and for our visitors to sit and bring their picnic rugs along and enjoy the food trucks’ fare and the amusements.

“It’s certainly a little bit different to a horse racing event.”

There are six camel races throughout the day, running around 300-400 meters in length with the animals being led to the race start with a mounted handler keeping them on track.

The races offer a sweepstake, proceeds of which go to a local charity.

“We’ve been focusing on bush fire and flood recovery support and will announce our chosen charity for Coffs Harbour before the event.

“The camels are ethically treated in both their North Coast living arrangement, their transport and their event life.

“They race Australia wide, without the use of whips or any other restrictive apparatus,” said Monique.

The camels come from a herd of 160 living on a farm in the Newcastle region where their owner operates ethical practices for happy animals.

On the day, in between the races there’s camel rides.

“These are not the racing camels, it’s more like pony rides, giving people the experience of being on a camel.”

The novel races are also a lot of fun with such events as the T-Rex, Giant Babies and Poo Emoji races.

“They’re big inflatable costumes, for adults…so it looks like, for example, fifteen giant babies racing down the track,” said Monique.

“It is hilarious.”

For more information see: www.facebook.com/camelracingdownunder.

By Andrea FERRARI