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

Hello Cairo!

After the frenzy of another round of voting in the parliamentary elections, we’re glad the weekend has finally arrived, because there’s no shortage of ways to blow off some steam and enjoy the city.

Thursday is always a big night at Cairo Jazz Club, and this week, Jailbirds
will start the night off with their covers of rock classics before Bad Mojo take the
stage for some old-school blues. Over in
Zamalek, the superb group of talented percussionists, aka the Percussion Show will perform a high-energy, beats-heavy concert at El Sawy Culturewheel.

Cairo Opera House will host a fantastic old-school
jazz performance by Magdy Boghdady and the Boghdady Band, while in Downtown
Cairo, the National Arab Music Ensemble will perform at El Gomhouria Theatre
and the Abou El Gheit dervishes will perform their unique fusion of Zar music
at El Tanboura Hall.

Alternatively, Middle East expert Maria
Roeder will give a presentation at the Netherlands-Flemish Institute
in Zamalek on how political protest in Egypt has, and
still continues to, utilise social media.

Friday is a huge night for parties and live music, starting at Cairo Jazz Club where
DJ Aly B’s music will have you on the dance-floor in no time. Elsewhere, Nacelle’s
Friday Night House Sessions are quickly becoming one of the hottest parties in
Cairo, and this time DJ Tito will be joined by DJ/singer Ashibah for a huge
night at Yasso Lounge on the Trianon Boat in Giza.

It gets better though, because 100copies
Music are bringing you a night full of music and partying at Downtown baladi
cabaret Sherazade where music will come courtesy of a host of different DJs
from Egypt, France and England, including the intruigingly named DJ Wezza.

El Sawy Culturewheel’s schedule is always full of interesting concerts, and this weekend is no
different, as they bring you Rock Nation. This night of pure, unadulterated rock
music will see performances from The Jokers, Profile, Jailbirds and Bluenotes.
Rock on!

Book shop El Kotob Khan in New Maadi doesn’t
often hold events, but they’ll have talented singer-songwriter Shady Ahmed
performing.

If you’ve never heard Ana Masry‘s music, this Saturday is the perfect time to start; because
the twenty-deep band who incorporate Coptic hymns, Sufi chanting, Nubian
singing and Egyptian poetry in their music, will celebrate their third anniversary
with a huge night of music at Darb 17 18.

We don’t see the hugely talented Maryam Saleh
of Baraka Band as much as we’d like to, but she’ll perform at Cairo Jazz Club this Saturday evening. If you
fancy being on the stage instead of in front of it, then Mashroo’ Al Mareekh may
be the platform you need. The monthly open mic night will be giving amateur
talents the chance to show their stuff at Bikya in Nasr City.

It’s ladies’ night at Stiletto where DJ
Feedo will play the hottest tracks, while jazz, rock and blues come
together for Eftekasat’s gig at El Sawy Culturewheel. That’s not all that’s
happening at El Sawy that day – Chocofest is back! It ended prematurely last
month, but it’s back by popular demand!

If that doesn’t sound like your thing, then
why not spend the day shopping and getting into the Christmas spirit at the
Grab & Wrap Bazaar at the Radisson Blu in Heliopolis, or at the Aid to
Artisans Christmas Bazaar at the Intercontinental Citystars.

Several new art exhibitions have opened
this week including painting and sculpture show ‘Twenty Something’ at Khan El
Maghraby in Zamalek and influential artist Zeinab El Sageny’s interesting new
exhibition at Zamalek Art Gallery. Two exhibitions that our reviewer’s found
particularly interesting are cross-media project ‘Hydrarchy’ at Contemporary
Image Collective and Gamal Meleka’s ‘Metamorphosis’ at Safar Khan Gallery. 

There you go Cairo, enjoy!