Folk artists, tribal performers and nomads take center stage at this annual week-long fair in India’s north-western state of Rajasthan. Thousands of foreign and local visitors enthrall with their acrobatics, music and dance routines.

Three-year-old girls perform delicate balancing acts as they dance to folk songs, while men show off their spectacular martial art skills.

For most of the folk artists and performers, the fair is the best platform to showcase their talent and earn some money.

Puja, a five-year-old girl has been performing at the festival for the past four years.

[Puja, Performer]:
“The only time I feel afraid is when I get onto that huge giant wheel. I don't feel any fear while performing on the rope, I enjoy it.”

Orgainizers have introduced various events to attract foreign tourists and make them feel part of the fair.

Musical chairs, a tug of war competition, cow milking competitions, turban tying competition and water-pot races—these are some of the events where foreigners compete with the locals.

Anna is a visitor from London. She likes the chaos and mad rush at the fair.

[Anna, Foreign Visitor]:
“I am liking the craziness, it is so busy. It is a bit like Glastonbury festival in England but more camels.”

The fair was largely a rural event until the early 1970’s when thousands of nomads and cattle owners used to buy and sell camels.

Over the years the fair has evolved into one of India's biggest tourist attractions where tourists from across the world mix with villagers and their animals. 

Bhairon Singh is a local Rajasthani man and has been a regular visitor to the fair for nearly two decades.

[Bhairon Singh, Local Visitor]:
"Earlier the number of people visiting the fair used to be much less, now so many people come here. Earlier the money used to be less, now people have more money, more clothes and more ornaments, it looks much more colorful now."