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

Go to Sahel or stay in Cairo? It’s a question many have been asking themselves all summer – and the answer is usually to go to Sahel. But Cairo has its own thing going this summer and this weekend proves exactly that.

The parties are plentiful this Thursday and we start at the Tap East in New Cairo, where the versatile Minus T makes a welcome return. Meanwhile, at its sister venue, the Tap Maadi, DJ Teddy is the man tasked with kicking off the weekend.

Elsewhere, DJ Fuzzy brings his deep and tech house sets to the Garden Nile Front in Maadi and hip-hop head,DJ Feedo, takes to the decks at Royal Maxim Palace Kempinski’s 3AM, while one of the highlight music events of the weekend for the pure music lover comes in the form of the return of Lastbreath. This edition of Cochlea’s perennial event sees Ahmed Samy and John Damien take to the stage at Garden City’s Rooftop Lounge.

If live music is more your game, Cairo Jazz Club are kicking off the weekend Bluezophrenia and Salalem perform at Downtown’s After Eight, while Hisham Blues is live at Fairmont Nile City’s Saigon Restaurant & Lounge. At the opposite end of the musical scale, meanwhile, El Dammah Theater hosts Mazameer El Nile.

Friday is a busy day for 3AM with two events on the board. First, starting at 4PM, DJs City takes over, with a total of 14 DJs set to perform. Later on in the evening, meanwhile, another edition of Blend awaits, bringing together Oriental and House music.

Elsewhere, hip-hop is the name of the game at the Tap East, courtesy of DJ Fat Sam, while Cairo Jazz Club’s Friday Fever sees Special K take to the decks with his trademark deep, tech and progressive house sets.

Meanwhile, live music comes courtesy of Basheer at After Eight, Spunky Dynamite at the Tap Maadi and Riham Mustafa at Saigon Restaurant & Lounge.

There’s plenty of Oriental flavour to Friday’s events, too, with increasingly popular belly-dancer, Nancy, returns to Hakamoro, while the Garden Nile Front hosts belly-dancer, Ranem, and DJ Hany Khalil at Fel Genena Oriental Night.

Saturday is a little more hushed, but there are some solid live music events, including Ahmed Omar’s return to Cairo Jazz Club and Shady Ahmed at the Tap Maadi. Elsewhere, the Tap East is closing their weekend with a night of funk courtesy of DJ Sewwes, while DJ Tommy takes After Eight on a trip down musical memory lane with a night of oldies.

Though many of Cairo’s galleries are still in hibernation, Zamalek Art Gallery’s annual Masterpieces summer collection is now on show, as is a huge group exhibition at Picasso Gallery.

These are just a few of the events across Egypt’s capital this weekend – check out the Cairo 360 events calendar for more.