The seventh edition of the International Samaa Festival for Spiritual Music and Chanting (ISFSMC) kicked off on 20 September with a performance held at Al-Nasir Mohamed Ibn Qalawoun Mosque at Cairo's historic Salah El-Din citadel.

Other venues hosting ISFSMC's performances include: Al-Hanager Theatre at the Cairo Opera House and Al-Ghouri Dome in Al-Azhar. The closing event will take place on the Giza Plateau.

The festival will run until 27 September and will include performances by troupes from Egypt, the region, and different countries around the world. Specific countries represented in this year's festival are Tunisia, Morocco, Syria, Jordan, Kuwait, Cameroon, Zambia, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia, Bosnia, Greece, the United States, India and China.

Among the festival's highlights is the debut performance by a group of children from the Dome Creativity Centre singing Sufi chants.

The festival will honour a number of remarkable figures such as: late chanter Sayed Al-Nakshabandi, author Gamal El-Ghitani, Tunisian theatre artist Ezzeddin Madani, and the late advisor to the Imam of Al-Azhar, Mahmoud Azab.

Photos: Mai Shaheen