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

Hello, Cairo!

It’s finally arrived – Christmas Day is all but here and with it comes a whole host of festive events. In addition to the plethora of Christmas dine-out options – which we have put together the best of here – gigs, music and other seasonally-themed events await across Egypt’s capital.

While Christmas is Friday, there’s plenty of festive cheer on Thursday, with Cairo Jazz Club kicking-off a busy weekend with this year’s customary charity event; Baby It’s Cold Outside will welcome local bands Funk OFF and the Cadillacs, with all proceeds going to local charity, Helm.

Across the River in Zamalek, sets sail on its Christmas voyage with the help of Tamer Hegazy and Lebanese singer, Lana, at Christma By the River, while Ahmed Harfoush returns to InterContinental Semiramis for a special Dinner & Dance event at Pane Vino.

Four Seasons Nile Plaza’s Graffiti welcomes belly-dancer, Dina and a host of musical performers for their own Christmas Eve party and Salalem lead the night at After Eight.

Away from Christmas, Blues Attack take to the stage at Maadi bar, the Tap, and Yasmine Ali performs at El Sawy Culturewheel, while Downtown's Zigzag welcoms local DJs, Bashar, Saleh Amin and Zeina.

Things pick up on Friday, meanwhile, with all manner of Christmas brunch, lunch and dinner options, while Mall of Arabia’s Winter Festival continues throughout the day and this weekend’s Eat to the Beat sees Ramy DJunkie take the reins at Eat & Barrel.

Later in the evening, one of the biggest events of the weekend sees local DJs, Disco Misr and Ramy DJunkie (again) take to the decks at Royal Maxim Palace Kempinski for Magic Mistletoe – an event that will see Haifa Wehbe perform. Another huge event is set to take place at InterContinental Citystars, meanwhile; Jingle Beats has huge line-up in store, with Amr Hosny and Bash's Beat from Lebanon amongst them.

Elsewhere, Cairo Jazz Club’s festive fun continues with Three Wise Men, as Mohasseb and Aguizi & Fahim provide the music, while Zamalek’s Riverside celebrates Christmas with a special edition of Riverdeep and Dubai-based DJ, Mo Turk. Meanwhile, Tamer Auf is heading over to Maadi for his return to the Tap and Greek DJ, Anastasis, is the man under the spotlight at Christmas at the Temple, while Korba bar, the Garden, welcomes Dr. K & Nii for their Christmas Night party and LIV Lounge celebrates with LIV the Christmas.

If you really want to get into the Christmas spirit, however, then look no further than this year’s production of The Nutcracker at Cairo Opera House, which is set to run till Wednesday 30th.

Saturday is decidedly quieter – which is understandable – though Cairo Jazz Club rounds off its weekend with live music courtesy of Salalem and the Tap does likewise with Bob Marley covers of Reggang. Elsewhere, Garden City’s ROOM Art Space screens La Nana as part of its Latin American Film Month, while the comedians of Al Hezb El Comedy take to the stage of El Sawy Culturewheel, where you’ll also find remnants of Christmas in Elmes Edena Band’s gig.

Merry Christmas!