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

It feels like we only just came back from the long Eid holiday and here we are on the cusp of a three-day weekend. Granted, Saturday is a dry night, but we’ll happily take an extra day off in exchange. This does mean, however, that you need to get your fix of music and parties on Thursday and Friday – and the beast that is Cairo has thrown up some mighty fine events.

We begin Thursday with one of the highlight live music events of the weekend, as Jordanian band, Random House, play their third gig this month in the capital. The four-man group end their mini-Cairo tour with a gig at Cairo Jazz Club, where DJ Safi will also be on hand.

Other live music, meanwhile, comes courtesy of Garden City’s ROOM Art Space, where unique singer-songwriter, Nathalie Saba, performs and at the Tap East, which welcomes rock and funk and cover-band, Crash Boom Bang. Its sister venue in Maadi, meanwhile, kicks the weekend of with the hip-hop sets of DJ Samba.

Elsewhere, Zigzag’s House Night sees the Downtown bar welcome sibling duo, Gawdat, and Michelle Rounds leads a night of live music at Kempinski Nile Hotel’s Jazz Bar, while Cochlea series, Lastbreath, returns with Gaser and Zio.

Meanwhile, the unique Hisham Kharma brings his electronic fusion sounds to El Sawy Culturewheel, while Cairo Opera House moves onto night two of its production of ballet, Spartacus.

Friday starts bright and early with the long-awaited return of Nacelle’s all-day fest of music, drink and food, Funk N Pop, but there’s plenty going on later in the day, including a HanyMust gig at ROOM Art Space and Fairouz T and Special K taking to the decks at Cairo Jazz Club.

Another of the weekend’s highlight events, meanwhile, sees international short film festival, shnit, hold a pre-party at the Old French Consulate in Downtown, with the likes of Ahmed Samy and Hassan Abou Allam on the line-up.

Elsewhere, Spunky Dynamite return to the Tap Maadi and hip-hop connoisseur, Fat Sam, is at the Tap East, while Basheer’s Nubian-infused stylings are front and centre at After Eight.

Away from concerts and parties altogether, a gathering of Cairo’s growing vaping community is set to take place in Mokattam, with lots of surprises and giveaways in store.

Art-wise, Cairo’s galleries are slowly shifting into gear with a new season, but there are exhibitions to be found at Picasso Gallery, where Spirit of the Places by Reda Abd El Salam is on show, while Osana Family Wellness in Maadi is getting in on the act with the launch of Appearance | Reality​ by Cairo-based, Syrian-Lebanese artist, Rana Chalabi.

This is of course just a snapshot of the events across Egypt’s capital this weekend – check out the Cairo 360 calendar for more.