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

Hello Cairo!

Thursday sees the official start of this year’s Downtown Contemporary Arts Festival, with German musician, Boris Brejka, and local shaabi band, El Dakhlaweya, kicking off the music programme and unique performance piece, ‘A (Micro) History of World Economics, Danced’, taking place on both Thursday and Friday – check out the Cairo 360 events calendar for more from D-CAF.

Elsewhere, Cairo Jazz Club hosts Lebanese indie duo, Loopstache, while sister-venue, Alchemy, hosts another edition of Shiver. Over in Maadi, Neil Edwards returns to the Tap, Downtown bar/art-space, VENT, welcomes back Bradley Zero and Jack J for quarterly residency, Rhythm Section Cairo.

Elsewhere, DJ Ramy leads Retro Night at Four Seasons Nile Plaza’s Graffiti, while award-winning musician, Abdallah Abozekry, performs at ROOM Art Space and local rockers, Screwdriver, perform at Rooftop Lounge – both in Garden City

On Friday, DJ Mohasseb celebrates three years of gigging at Cairo Jazz Club, while Eat & Barrel start bright and early with Aguizi & Fahim on the decks for this week’s edition of Eat to the Beat.

One of the biggest events of the weekend is set to take place at New Cairo’s the Music Tent, as popular Lebanese band, Mashrou’ Leila, perform.

The Invisible Hands perform a rare DJ set at VENT, while cultural hub Darb1718 host Hip Hop Edutainment; a special event aimed at spreading knowledge of hip-hop as more than just music.

Meanwhile, Pink Floyd cover band, Andromida, takes to the stage at El Sawy Culturewheel, while ROOM Art Space hosts Ney player Mohamed Antar and percussionist Wael El-Saed.

Ellie of London sings everything from smooth jazz to big band classics at Rooftop Lounge, and singer and chanter Aly El Helbawy sets a spiritual mood at Zamalek’s 3elbt Alwan, while Beatles tribute band, Glass Onion, perform at the Tap in Maadi.

On Saturday, Knorr Fine Foods attempts to break the world record for biggest serving of foul at the Foul Festival at Al Horreya Park in Zamalek; an event that will also feature live entertainment and a shopping bazaar.

Later in the evening, Cairo Jazz Club ends the weekend on a high note with Osama El Hady and Us We Lazq  rock and world fusion, while DJ Aly and DJ Kiko bring a little slice of Beirut to Bamboo for this week’s edition of Lebanese Love.

Zamalek’s Peking Lodge welcomes one and all to their Karaoke Night, while the Cairo Symphony Orchestra performs works by Franz von Suppe, Brahms and Mozart under the conductorship of Ahmed El Saedi at the Main Hall of the Cairo Opera House.

Mohandiseen's Al Kahila Art Gallery hosts 'City Layers'; the latest exhibition by Egyptian artist, Miriam Hathout, while Zamalek Art Gallery hosts group exhibition ‘Futuristic Nostalgia’, featuring works by art collective The Future Nostalgia Group.

Other art galleries this week include Hazim El Mestikawy’s ‘Juxtaposition’ exhibition at Art Talks Gallery, Fathy Afifi’s ‘Industrious’ exhibition at Gallery Misr, and group exhibition ‘Generations’ at Art Corner.

These are just a few of the events awaiting you across the capital this weekend; check out the Cairo 360 events calendar for more.