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

Hello, Cairo!

Whether by luck or by some form of higher-power design, the weather becoming a little more bearable than it has been in the last month has coincided with a busy weekend across Egypt’s capital, with all manner of concert, party and festival set to take place.

Thursday sees the cities venues kick-off the weekend with plenty of music, starting in Downtown, where Zigzag welcomes versatile, genre-juggling DJ, Minus T, on a night that will see fellow Cairo disc-jockey, Aroussi, also take to the stage. Elsewhere, this week’s edition of House Sessions sees Nacelle host French-American duo, Benoit & Sergio, as well as Egypt’s Hisham Zahran at Nile-side Giza club, the Temple, while Maadi bar, the Tap, begins its weekend with DJ and producer Abdo Klady.

There’s more music of the electronic kind over in Heliopolis, meanwhile, as deep house DJ, Moe-G, leads the night at the Garden’s weekly event, Motion.

Away from nightlife – well away, in fact – Ice Age Live! moves into its second day at Cairo International Stadium; there’s been plenty of buzz about the live stage adaptation of the popular animation series and it’s set to go on till Wednesday 10th.

Elsewhere, live music comes courtesy of Cairo Jazz Club, where local bands Funk OFF and Vybe perform, and Garden City’s ROOM Art Space, where increasingly popular group, Raindogs, take to the stage.

A more authentic Egyptian night can be had, too, as El Tanbura bring the sounds of Port Said and Suez to El Dammah Theatre, the Sakia Puppet Theatre perform Om Kolthoum Back on Stage at El Sawy Culturewheel, and belly-dancer, Amie Sultan, performs at Royal Maxim Palace Kempinski’s Bab El Qasr.

On a very different not, the inaugural edition of the Zawya Short Film Festival is set to kick off three days of screenings, while the Cairo International Book Fair continues and Cairo Opera House's production of Verdi's classic opera, Rigoletto, moves into its clsing night.

One of the biggest events of Friday comes in the form of this year’s Our Wedding Carnival. Now in ‘season four’, the two-day event will see thousands of Cairenes descend on Royal Maxim Palace Kempinski, where hundreds of exhibitors will be setting up shop alongside catwalk shows, make-up demonstrations, live hair-styling sessions, entertainment and more.

Alternatively, early-afternoon fun is available at Giza’s Eat & Barrel, where DJ Sebzz is the man in charge of the music for this weekend’s edition of day-party, Eat to the Beat.

Later on in the night, Cairo Jazz Club welcomes back one of it favourite sons, DJ Mohasseb, and French DJ, David Stepanoff, is leading a night of 70’s disco and funk at the Temple’s Retro Disco, while Riverside hosts DJs, Mo Ayad and Asser Nabil, for Riverdeep.

There’s live music at the Tap, courtesy of Funk OFF, who play their second gig in as many days, and at ROOM Art Space, where Ney player, Mohamed Antar, and Oriental percussionist, Ayman Mabrouk, perform together. Elsewhere, one of Egypt’s most enduring bands, Andromida, perform at El Sawy Culturewheel.

Live music is very much the order of the day on Saturday, too; acclaimed experimental musician and artist, Hassan Khan, performs at Balcom Lounge in Heliopolis, Basheer bring his Nubian-infused sounds to Cairo Jazz Club and acoustic ace, Hassan Ramzy, winds down the weekend at the Tap.

Elsewhere, Zamalek’s Gu Bar is gearing up for a rowdy night, with Saad El Soghayar the man under the spotlight for Oriental night, Heshek Beshek, while El Damma Theatre welcomes Asyad El Zar for a night of Sudancese zar music and the Cairo Symphony Orchestra perform at Cairo Opera House.

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