The first day of spring in Egypt is celebrated with a grand event that translates as sniffing the breeze. It is celebrated the first Monday after Coptic Easter. Egyptians mark the event by holding picnics and other outdoor activities in the countryside are along the Nile River, Red Sea or Mediterranean Sea.

Camel races have been held on the Arabian Peninsula since time immemorial. The South Sinai Camel Festival starts at 3pm on May 1 every year. It ends on May 31. More than 250 camels take part in this race. They come from 17 Egyptian tribes. While admiring these amazing animals, keep in mind what to look for. Their feet should be small enough to enable the camel to be swift and nimble, while big enough to balance and support its weight. Front legs are ideally near each other, long and straight. The rear legs, loins and thighs should be should be muscular as well as the area.

Leylet en-Nuktah, on June 17, commemorates the first day of the annual life-sustaining flooding of the Nile valley and delta. Without this natural phenomena’s spreading of fertile silt, Egypt would be as barren as the Sahara. No other Egyptian festival marks so important an event. The event is just a few days before the summer solstice. In previous millennia, if the flooding was even a few days late, drastic measures were called for. Beautiful local women were sacrificed by drowning them in the Nile in an attempt to appease God. “Leylet en-Nuktah” literally means “that of the drop”. By dropping such valuable items as living people into the river, it was though that the water level would rise.