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Cairo Weekend Guide: Arab Music Festival, Street Performers...

10/11/2011
Cairo Weekend Guide: Arab Music Festival, Street Performers and Live Bands
Cairo Weekend Guide: Arab Music Festival, Street Performers and Live Bands
City Life
Staff Writer

Hey Cairo!

We thought we were in danger of getting back into the swing of things at work after the long Eid holiday, but the weekend has saved us! It’s unfortunate how this has all turned out, but we aren’t complaining, because there’s too much going on in Cairo over the next few days.

Thursday is fast becoming the best night of the week at Cairo Jazz Club. Tonight they have a a double whammy of performances, as Mariam & Abo start the night off, before Wust El Balad take the stage.

There’s plenty of live music elsewhere too. Head to El Tanboura Hall for a unique night of mystical Sudanese and Nubian rhythms with Rango, or to El Genaina Theatre where a special percussion show will make you appreciate the roots of music, old and new.

El Sawy Culturewheel will host a performance by Egyptian singer Mohamed Adaweya, as well as a slightly more understated performance from oud player Youssef Abas.

If you fancy a drink and dance on the Nile, join DJ Feedo and his crew on board of the Solitaire Boat on the Nile for the Last Shot Boat Party while enjoying the latest R&B tracks. Over in New Cairo, Alexandra Stan, Chris Ortegga, Richard Bedford and DJ Carlos will all perform at the AUC campus in a charity gig.

There’s nothing wrong with wanting a quite night to start the weekend off to, and we recommend David Sim’s lecture at the Netherlands-Flemish Institute. The author will look at post-revolution Egypt through perspectives he wrote about before the revolution.

On Friday, DJ Aly B will take you on a musical ride of tech-house, disco and 80s pop at Cairo Jazz Club.  At the other end of the musical spectrum, the annual Arab Music Festival & Conference – now in its 20th year- showcases and champions music from around the Middle East. The festival will open with an epic performance that will feature musicians from Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Algeria.

The latest in the line of stand-up comedy shows at El Sawy Culturewheel will see Islam Mohi perform, who we’re told does some hilarious impressions. Also performing at El Sawy Culturewheel will be Egyptian singer Haytham Saeed.

It’s a busy day for the folks down at El Sawy Culturewheel; the Sakia Street Festival celebrates Egyptian street art and will feature a host of different performances, including everything from acrobatics to music.

Today will also see the start of award-winning artist Abdel Latif Mohamed Hussein’s calligraphy exhibition in Ziad Bakir Hall at Cairo Opera House.

Saturday will see the Arab Music Festival & Conference continue with performances by Egyptian Singers Medhat Saleh and Amr Selim, as well as Algerian singer Fela and the Religious Song Ensemble.  It doesn’t stop there though, because May and Mohsen Farouk will perform across town at El Gomhouria Theatre.

Sodfa Band blends the old with the new through their unique oriental music, and will perform at El Sawy Culturewheel. Head over to Wikalet El Ghouri in El Hussein for spiritual music combined with traditional dance performed by the whirling dancers of El Ghouri Tannoura Dance Group, or to Cairo Jazz Club, where Basheer will take you to another mood, culture and atmosphere of equally spiritual music, that you can’t fail to enjoy.

This weekend will be the last chance you get to see ‘Pulse’ at Tache Gallery in Designopolis. In an effort to encourage up and coming talent in Egypt the exhibition has been showcasing the works of 47 young artists including Hassan Hassan, Akram Fadl, Heba El Aziz, Mina Nasser and Yara Tag Tolba.

So there you go Cairo, enjoy!

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