The organisers of the upcoming edition of Cairo's Downtown Contemporary Arts Festival (DCAF) announced that the festival will run between 19 March and 9 April bringing a diversity of contemporary art practices.

Taking place between 19 March and 9 April, the festival will include a total of six segments -- performing arts, urban visions, music, visual arts, film, and the special events -- each filled with a variety of artistic elements.

According to the organisers, this year the festival will be characterised by a particularly versatile and bigger performing arts sector which will include a number of Arab world premieres. "The program this year places strong emphasis on audience participation, with some pieces even relying entirely on its spectators," DCAF's press release clarifies.

The festival operates under the artistic direction of its founder Ahmed El Attar who is also the curator of performing arts as well as urban visions, with the latter segment relying on performances in urban spaces.

Along with Attar, the D-CAF 2015 curators include Mahmoud Refaat (Music), Mai Abu El-Dahab (Visual Arts), and Rasha Salti (Film). 

"The film segment will deliver a diverse range of films hailing from across the globe from Senegal, China, Denmark, Brazil, USA and more."  

The organisers also reveal that the music program this year will be directed at what Refaat describes as the ‘urban youth culture’, and features everything from well-known Berlin-based DJs to local acts.

"As its name indicates, the special events segment offers unique programing outside the curated strands, including talks, workshops, a film master-class, film screenings and a dance performance," the press release said.

Among the new cultural offerings is the festival's expansion to the French Consulate on Shawarbi St, which will host the visuals arts program exhibitions and performances.

Other key venues will include spaces already explored in DCAF's previous editions: Sherazade Nightclub, Viennoise Hotel, Greek Campus, Qasr El Nil Theatre, and Radio Cinema.