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

Hello Cairo!

It’s that time of the week again –  there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. Minds shall rest and bodies shall dance, for it is the weekend.

Thursday sees the start of the two-day 100Live Electronic Music Festival at Rawabet Theater; tonight’s performances will include Zuli, Cellar Door and Kode 9 among others, while more electronic music comes at Temple Deck where old-timer Dave Seaman takes up the DJ booth. Elsewhere, the musical battles continue at Tamarai with Student DJ Battle #5 and DJ Simon is back at Roof Bar for another night of fist-pumping house mixes.

Cairo Jazz Club welcomes Shady Ahmed and Beatles tribute band, Glass Onion, to the stage, while Jazz Mate hosts some seriously smooth music with A Night of Jazz and Alchemy showers patrons with a Margarita Fiesta, while Baheya will also be making an appearance at Photopia.

‘A Crime Against Art’, based on a staged trial that took place at a Madrid art fair, will screen at Beirut this evening, while over at the Italian Cultural Institute, ‘Sette opera di misericordia’ – or ‘Seven Acts of Mercy’ – will be screened.

The 100Live Electronic Music Festival continues on Friday, with acts including NeoByrd and Abyusif, among others, while Darb 1718 sees Alif Ensemble, a pan-Arab collaboration, give their debut performance in Cairo and Cairo Jazz Club will have DJ Madlou and DJs Misty & Hafez providing the night’s entertainment.

Otium is hosting a Tropical Flower Party with DJS Pedro, Tamer and Disco El Funk, while Deborah De Luca flies over from Italy to take position behind the decks at Roof Bar and Swiss Club Cairo hosts and old-school CaiRollers Bloc Party.

Treat yourself to breakfast this Saturday at Amici Heliopolis’ Breakfast (and Booze) in prepration for Photopia’s big First Anniversary celebration. Meanwhile, at the other side of the city, Dandy Mega Mall hosts Fun Saturday dedicated kids.

Get your giggles on at Cairo Jazz Club where High on Body Fat will take to the stage, before City Band performs some Oriental rock numbers. Jazz Mate will see Ellie of London take on the task of channelling Ella Fitzgerald, while popular open-mic night, Mashrou3 Al Mareekh, is back, but this time at Dina’s Hostel in Maadi.

Elswehere, Zamalek’s Nile Maxim boat hosts ECHO Music and Screenings, where Egyptian art and short film screenings are on offer.

The arts are always flowing in the city, so if this is what you seek, then be sure to check out this week’s new exhibitions. Sculptur Mohamed Thabet displays his work at Picasso Gallery for a limited time, ’20 Years of Evelyn Ashamallah’ at 6 Contemporary Arts take a look back at the artist’s body of work and Gallery Misr has the work of 13 artists at eclectic exhibition, ‘Down Town’. Another exhibition that opened this weekend is ‘Urban Visions’ at GIZ, which shows the work of Ahmed Sabry, Ali Abdel Mohsen and Ramy Dozy.

Remember Cairo, these events are just the tip of the iceberg which we call Cairo’s social life – check Cairo 360 events page for more.

Happy Weekend!