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

There are few sweeter words in the English language than ‘three-day weekend’ and Cairo’s bars, cultural centres and venues haven’t disappointed with what’s shaping up to be an eventful few days. Shall we begin?

One of the biggest events on Thursday sees event organiser, Cochlea, take over Venue Lounge & Bar in Zamalek for a huge party marking their first anniversary, with British DJ and producer, Just Her, set to headline, with Ahmed Samy, Jorg and A.Salah also on the line-up.

Elsewhere, nightlife fans will can find a night of nu disco at The Tap Maadai courtesy of Fairouz T and Ayman Nageeb, while Detroit-based DJ, Shaun Reeves, is the man in charge of the music at Downtown’s Zigzag on a night that will also see Aly B and Minus T take to the stage.

The Garden Nile Front in Manial, meanwhile, kicks off its weekend with DJ Misty, while Cairo Jazz Club welcomes a debuting act in the form of Firehood, who take to the stage for a night of with covers of classics by the likes of Aerosmith, AC/DC and Queen.

There’s more live music, meanwhile, over at ROOM Art Space in Garden City where Sudanese folk singer, Asia Madani, performs, while enduring local bands, Eftekasat, perform at Zamalek’s 3elbt Alwan.

Friday is a big day for art fans, with Arts-Mart’s Cairo Art Fair kicks off, bringing together over 700 pieces by over 100 Egyptian artists for a mammoth six-day exhibition.

Things starts nice and early for Blurr Entertainment, meanwhile, whose recently launched series, ROOTS, welcomes Simone Vitullo, Abou Samra, Misty and Jimmy to the stage for the day party at Nineteen Twenty Five.

It doesn’t stop there, though; Zigzag s set to host a ROOTS after-party, with Abou Samra and Jorg. Elsewhere in the evening, Cairo Jazz Club hosts DeeRailed and Special K for a night of house, while Minus T is back in action, this time at The Tap East and sister venue, The Tap Maadi, hosts a night of Latin music with Llego La Banda.

Elsewhere, DJ Lyon Avakian is the man in the hot-seat at Riverside, local reggae band, Sefsafa, perform at ROOM Art Space and Oriental fusion band, Aradi, perform at Magnolia in Zamalek.

Saturday is quiet as usual, but one of the highlight events sees Mada Masr celebrate its third anniversary at Swiss Club Cairo with the help of Islam Chipsy, as well as DJs Safi and Loulii. Earlier in the day, meanwhile, Osana Family Wellness in Maadi hosts a special Christmas Bazaar.

Elsewhere, The Tap East in New Cairo ends its weekend with hip-hop courtesy of kidmims; and Anis, while Coldplay-cover band, Strawberry Swing, perform at 3elbt Alwan and Darb 1718 hosts anther edition of perennial open-mic night, Mashrou3 Al Mareekh.

Aside from Cairo Art Fair, there’s plenty of art to sink your teeth into, with new exhibitions this week coming in the form of Dynamics by Nehad Saeed and Mostafa El Husseiny at SOMA Art Gallery, Carlo Torio’s Threads at Mashrabia Gallery and Ahmed Farid’s Behind Closed Doors at Safar Khan.

This just a snapshot of the events that await across Egypt’s capital – check out the Cairo 360 events calendar.