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

Thursday kicks the weekend off with a performance by multi-talented Screwdriver who belt out a medley of covers on the Cairo Jazz Club stage. Local indie-pop, Salalem, are back for their weekly performance at After Eight, and contemporary band Camera will be playing their unique brand of socially and politically concious music at El Sawy Culturewheel.

El Sawy Culturewheel will also host El Masriyeen Band, who reminisce about their childhood in Cairo through classical Egyptian songs. For a longer walk down memory lane, you can catch the Abdel Halim Nowera Ensemble at El Gomhouria Theatre for the commemoration of Riad El Sonbaty, while another tribute night honours Sayed Darwish with an evening of poetry at Beit El Suheimi. If you want to go back even further in time, Wikalet El Ghouri have a special performance by the Descendants of the Pharaohs who make use of traditional Ancient Egyptian instruments.

Add a little culture to your Thursday and head to Islamic Cairo to the Talaat Hard Center for Ismailia International Film Festival Screenings, where you can catch the screening of this year’s winners’ works. Chilean Culture Week is taking over the Cervantes Institute for one last day, with the Raquel Fegueroa and Janeth Onetto Exhibition as well as their Artist Workshops.

Cairo Opera House has more to offer with their resident Children’s Choir performing in the Open Air Theatre, while El Genaina Theatre welcomes Palestinian musician Tamer Abu Ghazaleh for an acoustic evening.

It’s International Day of Peace this weekend and Darb 1718 is hosting Peace One Day that will have social initiatives, stand up comedians High on Body Fat as well as live music by Like Jelly, The Kasettes, Shady Ahmed and more. Join the cause and spread the peace!

Chilean Culture Week continues at Cervantes Institute where this is your last chance to catch Diego Araya in an open discussion on the parallels of arts and culture in Chile and Egypt. If you’re feeling more on the lazy, chillaxing side, head to Sufi for the screening of ‘Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About his Father’ which is the filmmaker’s memorial to a murdered friend.

Saturday is fun-packed and music-filled with Soot Fel Za7ma and Mariam Saleh taking over Cairo Jazz Club, where the former will be performing there for the very first time. Syrian singer Khater Dawa offers a repertoire of Arabic songs from styles that span from Egypt to the Levant, while tango and salsa performers, Sweet Sound Band, will be at Cairo Opera House.

Sufi Chants by Eslam will be hosted in the newly opened Balcon Lounge in Heliopolis and Shorouk Bookstore in Downtown Cairo launches ‘Wall Talk: Graffiti of the Egyptian Revolution’ which will be followed by a commemorative performance by Ali Talibab. 100Copies Music Space turns to cinema with screenings of ‘A Tin Tale’, ‘Bahary’ and ‘Zakaria’.

If you’re needing more art in your weekend, fresh exhibitions should tickle your fancy. Shakhabeet: Children’s Exhibition at Darb 1718 kicks off on Thursday and will last till the end of the month, where a collection of work showcases and celebrates the innocence, inhibition and imagination of the youth. Abdel Wahab Abdel Mohsen Exhibition at Chocolate Lounge only started this week and is curated under the theme of ‘mirrors’; the collection reflects spirituality of man and nature’s relationship. ‘The Taste of Things‘ by Ahmed Shebeyta is photography exhibition that captures moments of domestic life, showing in El Sawy Culturewheel.