Tips from the culture desk: A low-key performance event and 3 music festivals

This week, the week of Eid al-Adha, is not the most rich with arts events because people are busy preparing. We’re not particularly inspired by this Eid’s cinema releases, so suggest you consider going to a low-key performance event in Cairo and, if you won’t be celebrating with family when the holiday starts, to one of three exciting music festivals in far-flung beach locations.

B H G G A - Sunday

The intriguing Facebook event says there will be singing, traditional mawal performance, monologues, among other activities (all in Arabic), mentioning names of performers and poets who have contributed to the creation of this content during an intensive two-month workshop.

The whole thing looks very relaxed and simple. It's not promising any particularly amazing experience, and seems like a normal bunch of friends are getting together to get loud, but there seems to be an effort to create something that will appeal to as many people as possible. It fits very well into a slightly nihilist culture spreading through the post-2011 generation, yet it's turning this jadedness into something formulated and planned, perhaps a revival of the culture of independence that thrived before and during the revolution. The image on the Facebook page, fittingly, is a still from Ali Abdel Khalek's classic Al Keif (The High, 1985), which Hessen Hossam reviwed for Mada here. It's supported by Rawabet, Medrar, Falak and Makan.  

8 pm until midnight, September 20, at Rawabet, downtown Cairo. You can pay what you feel like for a ticket, as long as it’s not less than 25 LE.

Two music festivals in Nuweiba - Thursday to Saturday

For Eid vacation, two spots in Sinai’s Nuweiba are hosting two parallel music festivals, which brings back memories of the two 3alGanoobs and Oshtoora, which all happened at the same time during Easter Break on the Red Sea.  

In its third edition, Cloud 9 takes festival-goers back to what is arguably Sinai’s most picturesque beach, this time basing it at Dyara camp. The lineup is diverse, featuring Telepoetic, Jordan’s Zaed Naes, Nadah El-Shazly, Object Obscure and others. Besides the music, Cloud 9 offers a range of sports and crafts activities such as yoga, capoeira, tiedye, origami, upcycling and a beach clean-up. Last year, Mada’s own Habiba Effat reviewed Cloud 9, and while she found a number of organizational and curatorial hiccups, she wrote “it represents a spark of community, freedom and excitement for the music scene, and one with an optimism that you’d be hard-pressed to find in Cairo.”

Tickets are for the whole three days, and prices vary from a LE1,250 full festival pass (includes breakfast and accommodation) to LE900 for activities only. Check out the Facebook page for more info.

Maagana camp, which hosted Cloud 9 last year, are having their own festival, which has fewer bands and activities but is much more affordable (100LE per night, with two nights of performances). Starting 11:30pm on Thursday, Maagana will host HoH band, which is comprised of actor and Wust El-Balad lead singer Hany Adel, Massar Egbari lead singer Hany El-Dakak and its drummer Ousso. On Friday Abo and Sennary, Eslam El-Shaery and Shady Ahmed will play. It sounds like a good option for those opting for a more chilled environment with some live music, rather than a full-on festival. Their facebook page is here.

Dance music at BlurrFest - Thursday, Friday

Meanwhile, an ambitious new dance music festival called BlurrFest kicks off in resort town Sahel Hashish, near Hurghada, with over 15 international and local DJs. Set up by local club night organizers Blurr Entertainment, the two-day festival consists of live shows, DJ sets, dance acts and live video shows. Headline acts include Spanish DJs Marc Maya, Toni Varga and De La Swing, as well as German duo Booka Shade and US duo Soul Clap, both visiting Egypt for the first time. Local acts include Abu Samra, Hafez and Aly B.

For tickets, from LE800 to 1500, call 01000597984 or 01000597491, and call 01021061575 for accommodation. Apparently you need to join their closed Facebook group to buy a ticket.