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

Halloween has arrived in the capital and it seems to have bought the first phases of winter. But despite the increasingly chilly nights, Cairenes love Halloween and there are plenty of appropriately ghoulish events to celebrate the mother of all non-celebrations – as well as some non-Halloween events, too.

But before we get to that, the festivities begin on Thursday with the first of the Temple’s two-part Halloween Weekend. Things get serious on Friday, though, with the majority of venues across Cairo holding their Halloween events on the day. We begin with a day for the whole family at Uptown Cairo, where Uptown Thriller will transform the area into a weird and wacky Halloween town, with food, entertainment and activities on offer.

Later in the evening, Cairo Jazz Club’s customary Halloween costume party will this year be blessed by the substantial disc-jockeying skills of two of the best yound DJing duos in Cairo, Gawdat and A-Squared, on a night of typical CJC surprises with Thriller. Meanwhile, the Temple continues with part two of its Halloween Weekend, while Zamalek’s Riverside host DJ Fuzzy & Ayman Nageeb for their Halloween special, Scary River.

Elsewhere, Fairmont Nile City is set to welcome clubbers for one of two big Halloween events with Heroes & Villains, where DJs Irma and Fadi El Nemr take to the decks. Garden City’s Rooftop Lounge, meanwhile, hosts its own night frightening of frightening fun with the irresistible Michelle Rounds performing live.

There’s more on Saturday, too, with the Tap hosting one of the more casual Halloween parties, Come As You Are, with the Maadi bar encouraging attendees of the event to come dressed up as their favourite rockstars. The night will also feature what they’re calling ‘Bandaoke’ – karaoke but with a live band. Said band is none other than Minus One, led by Nile FM’s Mickey Ibrahim.

Elsewhere, the second of Fairmont Nile City's Halloween parties is set to take place at Saigon Restaurant & Lounge, where Cairo crooner, Ahmed Harfoush, sings the night away with a Halloween Dance Party. Just a little way down the Corniche, Conrad Cairo Hotel is injecting a little Oriental touch to Halloween proceedings, with belly-dancer, Oxana, set to return to Stage One. Elsewhere, often forgotten Zamalek bar, Venue, has an impressive line-up of DJs waiting in the wings for their own Halloween party, Hidden Forrest, which will see Ouzo, Abou Samra, Hussein Gamal and M. Fayek take to the DJ booth.

There are several non-Halloween parties across Cairo too, with some of the highlight events including a huge night of live music at Cairo Jazz Club on Thursday with Sharmoofers and Orchestra El Berengan, on a night that will also see the Tap welcome back local DJ, Sherif Nakhla, and DJ Samba make an appearance at O Bar’s Thursday Obsession alongside resident DJ, Irma. Over the river, DJ Tamer Hegazy is in charge of the music at another edition of Riverside’s Party by the River.

Elswhere, El Genaina Theatre hosts a big night of music with Oriental jazz fusion group, El Door El Awal, and Sudanese singer, Asia, performing, while Mazameer El Nile perform at El Dammah Theater.

On Friday, Eat & Barrel's boozy brunch, Eat to the Beat, welcomes DJ AK, while later in the evening, rock cover band, Screwdriver, return to the stage at the Tap and singer-songwriter, Abo, perform at ROOM Art Space in Garden City. There's more from El Genaina Theatre, too, with Al Darb Al Ahmar Arts School's Balalaika show taking to the stage for a night of music and circus-like stunts.

The live music continues on Saturday, meanwhile, at ROOM Art Space, with one of the most unique musical collectives, Processions Towards the Unknown, making a rare appearance, and El Genaina Theatre – again – welcoming a collaborative performance between the students of DAAS and local group, Egyptian Project. Meanwhile, Cairo Jazz Club welcomes unique musician, Ahmed Omar, who will lead a night of African music, as he performs sonds from his new album, Africairo.

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