The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

Hello, Cairo!

With Valentine’s Day landing on a Sunday this year, the season of love has seeped into the weekend, with many restaurants and bars across the capital taking advantage of everyone’s favourite part of the week – but worry not, there’s plenty for the cynics to help escape it all.

Thursday sees Nile-side Giza club, the Temple, welcome back Lee Van Dowski and Abou Samra for their bi-weekly part series, while in Downtown Cairo, Marc Wahba, Omar El Sabh and Fayek are the men in charge of the music at Zigzag. Elsewhere, Aly B kicks off the weekend at Maadi bat, the Tap, and DJ Simon leads the charge at Korba bar, the Garden, for this week’s edition of Motion, while Cairo Jazz Club is hosting a special night of karaoke with local band, Amro & the Big Bang Boogie, playing the part of the karaoke machine.

Elsewhere, Zamalek’s Riverside takes a trip down musical memory lane with Rolla Zaki performing classics and oldies at Black & White Night, while acclaimed Syrian collective, Abo Shaar Brothers, perform at El Sawy Culturewheel.

Valentine’s begins at Fairmont Nile City, too, with Saigon Restaurant & Lounge kicking off three-day dinner-and-music promotion, La Vie En Rose, and Napa Grill doing likewise with Always & Forever. Meanwhile, Ballet Tango, movies into its penultimate night at Cairo Opera House.

Friday kicks off bright and early with Nacelle returning to Royal Club Mohamed-Aly for this weekend’s edition of Funk N Pop, while this week’s Eat to the Beat sees DJs, Tahawy and Omar, provide the music at Eat & Barrel and the Garden welcomes DJs Damarawi, Assem and Madkour for day-party, Sweet & Sour.

For music and food of a different kind, meanwhile, InterContinental Semiramis's Night & Day hosts a special Valentine's brunch with jazz pioneer, Yehia Khalil, providing live music. One of the weekend’s most interesting events is set to take place at El Sawy Culturewheel as the I Ka Doly festival returns, offering attendees the chance to learn more about Nubian culture through music, exhibitions and more.

Later on in the evening, another of the weekend’s biggest events sees Grammy Award-winning American rapper, Eve, perform at Omar Khayyam Boat as part of a line-up that also includes local DJs, AK, Ramy DJunkie and Fat Sam, while Cairo Jazz Club welcomes three of the city's best DJs in Hisham Zahran, Aly Goede and Hassan Abou Allam.

Elsewhere, Riverside hosts a special Valentine’s edition of weekly party, Riverdeep, with DJ Fuzzy & Ayman Nageeb taking to the decks, while mini-music-festival, Music Square, takes place today after being rescheduled.

There’s more Valentine’s fun at JW Marriott Cairo, meanwhile, with Haifa Wehbe taking to the stage for a special party, while Garden City’s ROOM Art Space hosts the chanters of Al Hadra and acclaimed conductor, Ashraf Sharara, leads a chamber music concert at Cairo Opera House.

Saturday sees Zamalek’s Gu Bar welcomes famed singer, Mohamed Foaud, for a Valentine’s edition of Heshek Beshek and Cairo Jazz Club ends the weekend with a double-header of live music courtesy of indie musician, Osama El Hady, and neo-pop band, Hawas, while kidmims; takes to the DJ booth at the Tap.

Elsewhere, Ahmed Harfoush, performs at Fairmont Nile City’s Magneta as part of the hotel’s extensive Valentine’s program and alternative local band, Black Theama, return to El Sawy Culturewheel, while perennial open-mic event, Mashrou3 El Mareekh returns to Darb 1718.

These are, of course, just a few of the events awaiting across the capital this weekend – check out the Cairo 360 events calendar for more.