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

The weekend is back, and with it comes a variety of events that are sure to draw a smile on everyone’s face. Without much ado, let’s get down to the real deal and see what Cairo is offering in the next few days.

Some of the best local bands in town are getting the weekend started. On Thursday, The Gypsy Jazz Project take to the stage of Garden City’s ROOM Art Space, while Arabic rock band, Ka’b Dayer, perform at Zamalek’s 3elbt Alwan and El Waziry Group perform some folk tunes on semsemeya at Downtown’s El Dammah Theatre. Elsewhere, Afronubia take to the stage of El Sawy Culturewheel’s River Hall, playing a variety of Africo-Reggae numbers.

AC/DC Cover band, Firehood, kick the weekend off at Cairo Jazz Club (Photo: Firehood/Facebook)

On the other side of the musical spectrum, cello ensemble, State of Harmony, take to the stage of Old Cairo’s Darb 1718 at ClassicXElsat7; a special edition of the the cultural venue’s monthly MazzikaXElSat7, where the group is set to play classical versions of modern hits. At the other end of the spectrum, Cairo Jazz Club local band, Firehood, who pay tribute to the legendary AC/DC before Jack Avakian takes to the DJ decks for more rock classics.

Elsewhere, Ramy DJunkie kicks off the weekend at The Tap Maadi for this month’s edition of All That Djunk and Ayman Nageeb is at The Tap East to deliver a dose of nu-disco.  Chiati and Baher are the latest DJs to take part of the Downtown club’s pre-season warm-up specials.

The music continues on Friday, as Sufi chanters, El Hadra, and Ahmed Mounib tribute band, Mounib Band, perform seperate gigs at El Sawy Culturewheel, while Chroma take to the stage at Gramophone’s Nubian Night, which will also offer attendees to take part in various Nubian cultural practices and activities such as henna drawing.

Over in Garden City, Do’souka are live at ROOM Art Space, while The Meteors Project and Aguizi & Fahim tamake-up a monster line-up at The Tap Maadi, DJ Sebzz plays deep and tech house music at Cairo Jazz Club’s Friday Fever and DJ A.K plays hip-hop tunes in The Tap East’s Back to the Future.

Egypt’s biggest geek-fest, HeuniCon, is one of the weekend’s highlight events. (Photo: HeuniCon/Facebook)

Saturday offers more than just music, with Cimatheque presenting a double dose of animated movies, with screenings of Satoshi Kon’s Perfect Blue and Jan Švankmajer’s surrealistic version of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, Alice. Darb 1718, meanwhile, hosts a dance performance entitled Ghareeb, Cairo International Convention Centre hosts this year’s China Trade Fair, which features 500 leading companies and over 20,000 products that cover everything, while El Sawy Culturewheel brings Egypt’s anime lovers together in HeuniCon.

As for music events, Jordanian rock band, Jadal, return to Cairo with a performance at The Greek Campus that also sees local bands, Malaz and Khayal, perform, while oud player, Mohamed Abozekry and his band, Karkade, take to the stage of El Genaina Theatre for a night of oriental music.

Jordanian rockers, Jadal, return to Cairo for a gig on Saturday. (Photo: Jadal/Facebook)

Cairo Jazz Club is also going oriental, with local band, Dokkan, taking to the stage, before Arabic indie singer, Osama El Hady, takes over, while The Tap East hosts a night of blues, swing and funk, where Adham Roshdy, Sherif Watson and Ezz Shahwan, aka, AWE, take to the stage and, last but not least, Voice & Bass take to the stage of The Tap Maadi, to play a variety of covers and originals.

Check out the Cairo 360 events calendar for more events, inside and outside of Cairo.