Once a year in winters and on the middle of the continually rising and falling stark yellow sands of the great Thar Desert, the empty sands around Jaisalmer come alive with the brilliant colour, music and laughter of the Desert Festival. The festival is organised by the tourist authorities as tourist entertainment around January-February.

The very rich and colourful Rajasthani folk culture is on show here for a few days. Rajasthani men and tall beautiful women dressed in their brightly costumes dance and sing lingering ballads of valour, romance and tragedy. Traditional musicians attempt to outdo each other in their musical superiority.

The high points of the festival are - snake charmers, puppeteers, acrobats, folk performers do rapid trade. Camels, the lifeline of the desert, play a foremost role. Proud moustached villagers, dressed in their ethnic best come astride their picturesquely caparisoned camels to join in the camel dances and competitions of camel acrobatics, camel races and décor, camel polo, tug of war and the like.

The tourist dances, turban tying competitions and tug of war are big draws and laughter. The Mr Desert competitions, which are focused around the length of moustaches by and large, attract many hopefuls.

» Places to Stay in Jaisalmer

Being one of the major cities of Rajasthan, Jaisalmer is well equipped with standard and luxurious hotels as well as budget accommodations. There is a good choice of budget hotels to choose from. Many hotels provide hot water and styled toilets.

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» Climate in Jaisalmer

Jaisalmer has got extreme climate. Best time to visit from October to February.

» Shopping in Jaisalmer

Shop for exquisitely carved wooden boxes in tiny curio shops. Traditional rugs, handwoven blankets and shawls in typical Rajasthani color and weave are also available. Mirror work, embroided article silver jewelry. Trickles and curios are other boys of Jaisalmer. The shopping spots are within the fort and include sadar Bazar, sonaron ka Bass Manak Chowk, pansari bazar, Gandhi Darshan, Seema gram, Rajsthani Govt. shop and Khadi Gramodyog Emporium.

» How to Get there

Air : The nearest airport is Jodhpur (285 km)

Rail : Jaisalmer is 290-km from Jodhpur via Pokhran, Dechu and Balesar or 330-km from Bikaner via Pokhran and Phalodi. It is well connected by train with Jodhpur and other major cities of the country by a meter gauge line.

Road : A good network of roads joins Jaisalmer with Jodhpur and many other destinations in and around Rajasthan.