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

The talk of the weekend seems to be around the impending national internet-crash that is the Black Friday sales as hundreds of shops slash their prices by up to 70%. If you do find the time to peel yourself away from your laptop, there are actually some pretty tasty events taking place.

We begin on Thursday with Volume 2 of Theater of Dream's recently launched monthly series, Club Nights, which this time round sees Spanish electronic music legend, D-FORMATION, headline at Venue Lounge & Bar, with locals, Abou Samra and Jimmy, also on the line-up.

There’s more of thud-thud-satisfaction that only electronic music can provide over at The Garden Nile Front, meanwhile, where deep and tech house duo, Aguizi & Fahim, take to the stage. Elsewhere, Tamer Auf is the man in charge of the music at The Tap East in New Cairo, while sister venue, The Tap Maadi, kicks off the weekend with a dose of hip-hop and r&b courtesy of Soul M.

Elsewhere, Aly B and Hassan Abou Alam are the behind the decks at Zigzag’s House Night, while another nightlife haunt, Cairo Jazz Club, have a double header of live music in the form of Bluezophrenia and Beatles cover band, Glass Onion.

There’s more live music over at Zamalek’s 3elbt Alwan, meanwhile, where Noha Fekry and Rami Attallah perform.

Away from music altogether, Thursday is Thanksgiving and  Cairo’s restaurants have wholeheartedly embraced with many offering special Thanksgiving dinners, some of the best of which include Downtown bistro, Eish & Malh, Royal Maxim Palace Kempinski restaurant, Romanov, and Maadi favourite Lucille’s.

Speaking of imported holidays, Friday starts early with this year’s edition of the annual DEO Christmas Bazaar, where shoppers will find food and drink from across the world and much more.

 

Also starting early is Blurr Entertainment’s new series, ROOTS, which this week will be headlined by Dutch tech DJ, Joey Daniel. More fun in the sun can be found at The Garden Nile Front, too, where Horrible DJs provide the music at boozy brunch event, Fridaze, while The Tap East’s own Friday brunch welcomes singer-songwriter and guitarist, Hassan Ramzy.

Later on in the evening, Cairo Jazz Club hosts a fantastic line-up that sees The Meteors Project, Aly Goede and Hisham Zahran all take to the stage, while local DJ and producer, SHIHA, makes a rare public appearance at Zigzag’s Club Night.

Away from nightlife, the legendary Le Petits Chats perform at Cairo Opera House, El Sawy Culturewheel’s annual Chocofest continues and Madar hosts the eight edition of open mic talent show, Spellbound.

Saturday is a little quieter, though maybe not at Cairo Jazz Club, where local Oriental rock favourites, Code Masr, perform. The Tap East, meanwhile, ends its weekend with hip-hip courtesy of DJ Mobbz, while The Tap Maadi welcomes Slim Nasr. Elsewhere, acclaimed Tunisian musician, Aziz Marak, is live at El Sawy Culturewheel and Egybadour perform at Madaar.

Art-wise, there’s plenty ro get stuck into, with one of the newest exhibitions in the city showing at Osana in Maadi. Hugh Snowden’s Sea Song is inspired by the artists 35 year coastal experience in Egypt and he’ll be taking part in a Q&A about the collection on Saturday.

For more exhibitions, as well as parties, concerts and other events, check out the Cairo 360 events calendar.