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

Hello Cairo!

All hail the weekend that cometh after a hard week of working; welcome it with open arms and savour its every moment, because you know that after those itty bitty twenty-four hours, it’s back to the dungeons (offices) once again. As quickly as the time passes, though, Cairo is not a city to leave them wasted. So gear up everyone, this one’s a big one.

The Downtown Contemporary Arts Festival returns for another year and will kick off approximately one month long of events this Thursday. Choreographed by Toméo Vergès, the contemporary dance installation, Anatomia Publica, will showcase at Falaki Theatre, while elsewhere at Sherazade, D-CAF welcomes Wetrobots <3 Bosaina and Byetone for a unique musical line-up.

The party must go on and it does at Tamarai, who will host the devilishly red party, La Voile Rouge, while at Otium, DJ Feedo is back for an r&b inspired night. Roof Bar welcomes Spanish DJ, Abel Ramos, to their decks and Egyptian singer, Mohamed Gamal, will be performing alongside DJ Wezzo at Melouk

Some funk and soul will fill up Cairo Jazz Club where Hany Must, Deja’Vu and Spunky Dynamite will perform, while Shoaib El Khatib and his band’s country and blues take centre stage at Sufi. Jazz Mate will also host a Live Jazz Night this evening, if that’s more of what you’re into.

D-CAF on Friday will offer the first of many ‘Urban Visions’, which consists of contemporary dance performances held in public spaces. Another performance comes courtesy of  UK theatre company, Bookworks; ‘The Incredible Book-Eating Boy’, to take place at Viennoise Hotel. The ‘all night cinema’ series of the festival will have its first screenings tonight, with a focus on ‘Contemporary West African Screenings’.

Tonight Melouk is back again offering Queen of Melouk which is said to crown one lucky lady by the end of the night. Y Lounge have a Candy Shop Party and O Bar will bring some more r&b flavour to your weekend. Sahara are set to give a Rai-inspired performance at Jazz Mate, while Aya will be at 100Copies Music Space for some original, mellow beats.

2003 French film, ‘Love Me If You Dare’ will be screened at Sufi tonight, while Megawra hosts a talk, ‘The Ageless Mentor’, on architecture and pioneering architects. But if live music is what you’re looking for, head to Cairo Opera House where the Abdel Halim Nowera Ensemble will perform, or go to El Sawy Culturewheel for a classical guitar concert courtesy of Zach Van Lue.

Although Saturday has some mild debauchery to dabble in, such as Greek Night at Amici Heliopolis, and Lebanese Love at Bamboo, take this time to relax and do something more productive with your day. Nūn Center will be hosting another Farmers Market, an Easter Festival takes place at the British Club in Maadi, and Cairo Flea Market move onto the second day of their Easter Event at Designopolis.

Darb 1718 are championing the underground music scene with ‘The Underground is Still Alive’, which will see performances by Ashara Gharby, Looperia Project and Lel we Ain. The Cairo Symphony Orchestra will also be performing this evening at Cairo Opera House.

As always, though,  art and culture dominates. D-CAF have resurrected‘InterLAB Cairo-Dresden’ at Medrar, exploring art’s place in the world of new media. New this week, ‘My Nineties’ at Townhouse Gallery is a multi-platform art presentation that depicts what Egypt in the 90s was to a variety of artists, while an exhibition by quirky artist Helmi El Touni – ‘Women & Horses’ – and one by Esmat Dawestashy beg for a visit.

Now, these are not, we repeat, not all the events on offer for this glorious weekend. For more ways to spend your days, visit our Cairo 360 events page – and if you’re looking for a guide to the D-CAF Festival this year, then we have that too! Just click here.

Happy Weekend Cairo!