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

With the unofficial Sahel Season officially over, the focus returns to Cairo’s music and nightlife scene, with this weekend chockablock with gigs, parties and even the odd festival or two.

We begin on Thursday with ACID Film Week, which sees the French Institute, Zawya and Cimatheque screens some unique, Cannes-selected documentaries from across the world. Tonight, films shwing include quirky French piece, Pauline S’arrache, the space-themed Cosmosdrama, and Palestinian flick, Fix ME.

On a similar note, the El Sakia Documentary Festival is set to take place on Thursday and Friday, with both days dedicated to a host of different screenings as well as open discussions.

In terms of live music, there’s plenty to sink your teeth into, including a huge line-up at Cairo Jazz Club which will see singer-songwriter and guitarist, Shady Ahmed, open, with Lebanese band, Roswell, and local rockabilly merchants, the Cadillacs, also performing.

There’s more live music, meanwhile, at Garden City’s ROOM Art Space, where Ahmed Omar and AfriCairo bring their unique Afro-infused music to the stage, while El Sawy Culturewheel hosts a double header of live rock with local bands Khayal and Malaaz.

Elsewhere, one of the country’s most popular belly-dancers, Amie Sultan, helps kick the weekend off at Hakamoro in Heliopolis, while the Tap Maadi welcomes DJ Armen V and sister-venue, the Tap East, welcomes DJ Samba for a night of hop-hop.

Friday kicks off nice and early at Downtown bistro, Eish & Malh, which hosts another of its Slow Downtown: Farm to Fork Menu and Markets, with the set to chef whip up some special dishes for breakfast, lunch and dinner with seasonal, local produce, alongside a market of local producers.

Later in the evening, Cairo Jazz Club’s Friday Fever sees Hassan Abou Alam, Chiati and Nourre Fahmy roll out a night of tech house, while Man-O mans the decks at the Tap East. Elsewhere, Roswell are back, this time at Zamalek’s 3elbt Alwan, while saxophone-led Nour Project perform at the Tap in Maadi.

Saturday is considerably quieter, but there are some top events to get stuck into, including more live music at Cairo Jazz Club, where local acts, Strom Band and Basata, perform. Elsewhere, unique eight-man band, Musiphoria, wind down the weekend at 3elbt Alwan, while Sewwes plays nu-disco and nu-jazz at the Tap East, while local indie group, Karkadan, are in charge of the music at the Tap Maadi.

At the other end of the musical scale, meanwhile, El Dammah Theater hosts a night of Sudanese zar music with Asyad El Zar, while the Cairo Symphony Orchestra perform at Cairo Opera House.

These are, of course, just a few of the events taking place this weekend across Egypt’s capital – check out the Cairo 360 events calendar for more.