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

It’s another busy weekend in Cairo, and a special one given all the Christmas-themed celebrations and events happening over the next three days.

Infinity’s Thursday night debut at Cairo
Jazz Club is sure to establish them as one of the most unique bands around, as
they start the night before jazz diva Michelle Rounds dazzles on stage. If you’re after a night of dancing, then Purple in
Zamalek should hit the spot with their house music night.

Christmas celebrations are in
full swing Cairo-style, starting with the Urban Flavours Xmas Party at Yasso
Lounge on the Trianon Boat in Giza with German DJ Sabrina Terrence.  Over in Heliopolis, the Intercontinental
Citystars’ Bellini Cocktail Lounge will host the DJing likes of Amir Nashaat,
Honda, Raza, Mira G and S-Lap for a special Christmas celebration.

El Sawy’s Christmas celebrations blow up
with a performance by Ahmed Harfoush and his rag-tag band of musicians the Riff
Band, while Mezzo Soprano Gala El Hadidi will perform a special Christmas
concert at Cairo Opera House. Also at Cairo Opera House; classic Christmas play
The Nutcracker will open tonight for
a week-long run.

On a different note, Rawabet Theatre’s
showing of The Wheel and the Moon is
coming to a close tonight, and it will be the last chance to see Reem Hegab’s
dramatic choreography performance.

Cairo Jazz Club continues to bring you only
the best acts from around the city, with oriental house starts Soopar Lox
taking the stage on Friday night. Tempting as that may be, we always seem to
gravitate towards Yasso Lounge on a Friday these days, and have Nacelle’s Friday
night house sessions to blame. This week, DJs Aly B and Tito are the Pied
Pipers of house music.

Wait a second, though- there’s more. Zamalek
will be rocking, because DJ Feedo is at Purple for r&b night, while Buddha
Bar have drafted in DJ Khaled for African Night. With more than a hint of
African flavour to the music, the dining and the accompanying fashion show,
this is one of the more interesting nights that Cairo has seen in a long time.

The seasonal celebrations continue with
Cairo Expats’ Christmas party at Nile Holding Club, where DJ Moro and DJ Ahmed
will spin out heavy dance, r&b and house music. Over at
Designopolis, The Terrace kicks off Christmas with Jazz Band performing jolly
Christmas songs, followed by the singer Shymaa Sharaff alongside DJ Ramy and DJ
MadLou.

More traditional Christmas festivities
continue at Cairo Opera House, as musician Emad Hamdy performs a special
Christmas concert, while the Oum El Nour Choir do likewise at Downtown’s El
Gomhouria Theatre.  

Saturday is Christmas Eve, and it wasn’t so
long ago that we’d be lying in bed wide-eyed and waiting for Santa to squeeze
down the chimney. Those were more enchanting times, but we’ve got even more
reason to be up late at Cairo Jazz Club’s Candy Cane Christmas Eve with Crash
Boom Bang, who will be bouncing off the walls as always.

On the other hand, take Stiletto’s approach
and treat the day like any other Saturday. There’s no reason to complain,
though; because it’s ladies’ night, it’s r&b and it’s DJ Feedo– sounds good
to us.   

If your inner Grinch is cringing at the Christmas
revelry, you could always go native and enjoy a night at Cairo Opera House with
the Cairo Symphony Orchestra or head over to Wikalet El Ghouri in El Hussein
and lose yourself in the whirling dancing of El Ghouri Tannoura Dance Group.

There are so many interesting art exhibitions
in Cairo right now, and two notable ones that have opened this week are Hala
Elkoussy’s multi-format project Al
Khawaga and Johnny Stories at Townhouse Gallery and group exhibition Resistance at Darb 17 18. Also worth a peek is Zeinab El Segeny’s exhibition
at Zamalek Art Gallery, which charmed our reviewer’s socks off.

There you go Cairo, have a great Christmas
weekend, and don’t forget to check out Cairo 360’s Guide to all the Christmas
and New Year’s Eve parties, dinners and festivals for more details!