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

Hello, Cairo!

It’s only a matter of days before we’re forced to give into the Christmas spirit that has already begun to creep into everything and anything across Egypt’s capital, but until then the city is gearing up for a busy weekend.

One of the biggest events of the weekend is set to see Downtown Cairo’s Falaki Theatre welcome the sixth annual edition of the 2B Continued Festival from Thursday, which this year will host three different performances. Each one will be performed on each night of the three-day festival, with audiences voting for their favourites.

Thursday’s also a big night for music, as Massar Egbari return to Cairo Jazz Club and Moroccan singer, Saad Lamjarred, performing a special concert at Porto Cairo Mall. Elsewhere, local reggae collective, REGGANG, take to the stage at Mohandiseen’s Underground and Zamalek’s 3elbt Alwan hosts a gig by the notorious Islam Ali, while Fairmont Nile City welcomes both Noha Taha and Riham Mostafa for separate performances at Saigon Restaurant & Lounge and Onyx Lounge, respectively. Meanwhile, Mall of Arabia kicks off its special Winter Festival with a performance from Egyptian singer, Shaza.

On a similar note, Porto Cairo Mall are also getting festive this weekend, with a two-day Christmas Bazaar.

If electronic music is your poison, Downtown’s Zigzag kicks off the weekend with the help of Omar El Sabh and Abdo, Tamer Hegazy leads another edition of Party by the River at Riverside and Maadi bar, the Tap, welcomes back Neil Edwards.

On Friday, brunch and music come together at another edition of Eat to the Beat at Eat & Barrel, as DJ Fabric takes to the decks, while Downtown bistro, Eish & Malh, do the brunch-and-music thing a little differently, with Ibrahim El Haddad performing some laidback jazz numbers. Over in Mokattam, meanwhile, Uptown Cairo hosts a special all-day Christmas Festival from 3PM.

Later in the day, Cairo Jazz Club welcomes a triple-whammy of DJs in Mayounah, Nader Tahawy and Omar Sherif, while Minus T and Klady pick up where Omar El Sabh and Abdo left off at Zigzag and this weekend’s edition of Riverdeep sees Fairouz T. and Junior lead the charge at Riverside.

In Maadi, the Cadillacs return to the Tap for an evening of knee-knocking rockabilly, while Omar Ghali headlines a four-man lineup at Zamalek’s 3elbt Alwan and the Shady Ahmed Band perform at ROOM Art Space in Garden City.

Things take a decidedly chilled turn on Saturday, with live music dominating. Cairo Jazz Club ends the weekend in style, with Luka & the Band, Osama El Hady and Ezz El Ostool all performing, while 3elbt Alwan welcomes Hany Must.

Over in Heliopolis, experimental band, Procession Towards the Unknown perform and Hassan Ramzy winds down the weekend at the Tap, while Eish & Malh bring food and music together again with Abdallah Magdy and Ahmed Samy.

At El Sawy Culturewheel, meanwhile, Castle of Rock sees local bands, Rock Rockies, Profile and Bel 3araby, perform, while the 2B Continued Festival comes to a close, with the winner set to be announced.

On the arts and culture front this weekend, Darb 1718’s Something Else continues, as does the 7th Cairo Video Festival, while the standout new exhibition this week’s comes in the form of The Donkey, showing at Gallery Misr.

These are just a few of the events taking place across Cairo this weekend – check out the Cairo 360 events calendar for more.