The camel market at Keren is one of the last of its kind in East Africa where camels are still actively traded as working animals rather than tourist spectacle. The Bilen and Tigre herders who bring animals from the surrounding desert region have been trading here for centuries, and the market retains a functional seriousness that distinguishes it from the folkloric versions you find elsewhere. Camels change hands, deals are argued over, tea is drunk, and the whole thing operates on its own unhurried clock.
The market runs on Mondays, starting early and winding down by midday. Go early if you want to see the most activity. The surrounding market that expands alongside it — livestock, goods, food, fabric — is also worth exploring and gives a sense of how central Keren is to the commercial life of the surrounding countryside. Come on a Monday and the city feels twice its usual size; come any other day and you'll wonder where everyone went.