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

Every year, it’s become a tradition for some Cairenes to visit the venue that makes everyone feel like Christmas is here, and New Year’s Eve is near. For a long time, Winter Fest at Zed Park, Sheikh Zayed was your go-to for Christmas and New Year’s Eve! The festivities and the celebratory vibes there are contagious, if you go once, it’ll become a yearly staple.

This year, however, a new venue has opened and it’s preparing a huge celebration that’ll start on December 17 and will continue until January, HydeOut.

HydeOut in New Cairo recently opened earlier this year and has outdone itself in hosting holiday celebrations; their Halloween themed park was a major success where they’ve decorated the entire park with spooky associated objects and opened up plenty of entertainment booths from face painting to carnival games to even putting together a horror house! 

This year and for the first time, HydeOut is hosting a Winter Carnival in celebration of Christmas and New Year’s Eve. So, could this be a classic Zayed vs New Cairo rivalry? Let’s see what each has to offer.

Zed Park’s Winter Fest is a trusted end of year carnival. This year, they’ve prepared a well-rounded festival where they’re including a Frozen themed parade and show, live music and living statues entertainment segments, and most interestingly, Santa’s grotto and a Christmas tree lighting segment!

Santa’s grotto is generally a designated place where children visit Santa who sits on his chair and gives them their presents. There’ll also be plenty of food booths that came prepared with a quick bite for all the hungry stomachs.

Now let’s take a look at HydeOut’s Christmas Town, this one’s a mouthful so get ready! They’re kicking off their festival with a mesmerizing carousel, giant candy canes and a snow globe that you can take cool pictures with and a skating rink!

Like Zed’s Winter Fest, HydeOut also has its very own Santa’s Grotto, but it comes with instructions, how fun! Head to HydeOut’s Instagram page to check the full steps on how to approach the grotto, but in essence, you should urge your child to write a letter to Santa with the present they want, take a sneak peek at the letter, go buy the gift and give to one of the elves then direct your child to the grotto and lo and behold, Santa will give them the gift they’ve wished for!

The festivities don’t stop there, they also have a Santa sleigh, tunnel of lights and street lights that you can take a walk through pretending you’re in a rom-com movie. And now for the big surprise: a Christmas market with all the Christmas goodies you can get your hands on!

This is all excluding the food venues that are readily available at HydeOut as well as the great number of carnival games that you can choose between. You’ll be guaranteed to have a long night of fun ahead of you.