The Nagaur Festival is held every year in the period between January-February in the quaint Rajput town of Nagaur. The Nagaur festival is essentially a cattle fair and every year close to 75,000 camels, bullocks and horses are traded. In fact the sheer volume of trading is astonishing to the first time visitors.

To add spice to the festivities, fun events like tug-of-war, camel and bullock races and cockfights along with enchanting folk music of Jodhpur add a surreal charm to the whole festival.

One of the most amazing feature of Nagaur Festival is the vibrant red-chilly market that is exclusively set up at the festival premises. By all accounts this red-chilly market or "mirchi bazaar" as it is popularly referred to in the local parlance is the largest in Asia.

The Nagaur Festival is organised by the Department of Animal Husbandry in co-operation with the Department of Tourism, Government of Rajasthan. As per the latest statistical records, approximately 80,000 cattle owners participate in this festival with more than 2,10,000 cattles being traded.

The town of Nagaur has been the bastion of the Rajputs. Here you can hear the jingle of bells as camels or sheep wend their paths from village to village. And with them go the hardy people of these parts. The men with their proud moustaches and brightly colored turbans. And the women, in their gaily printed skirts and heavy silver jewelry. And centuries of tradition follow in their steps.

At the festival there is fierce bargaining as far as buying and selling of cattle is concerned. The seller skillfully enumerates the merits and intrinsic worth of the animal until the buyer is fully convinced about these merits and strikes a deal.

As dusk descends on Nagaur, the folk musicians come into their elements. Their songs eulogizing the inherent Rajput heroism and bravado as well as their tragedies and misfortunes reverberates to the distant horizons. As the torrid heat of the day gives way to the chilly wind of the night, one snuggles closer to the warmth of the embers of the camp-fire at the Nagaur Festival in Nagaur Rajasthan.