Closing ceremony of 31st Cairo International Festival for Experimental Theatre (1-11 September 2024)
Egyptian theatre makers now have until 15 June to submit their plays.
Interested troupes can apply via this link.
The festival will run from 1 to 8 September, under the theme "Post-Globalization Theatre."
Submissions for Arab and international troupes have already closed.
Egypt's oldest theatre festival
The CIFET is one of the most important artistic events in Egypt’s cultural scene, and the oldest theatrical festival in the country.
It is organized by the Ministry of Culture and held under the patronage of Minister of Culture Ahmed Hanno.
The festival was launched in 1988 by former Minister of Culture Farouk Hosny to put Egypt on the international theatrical map. Until 2011, all of the CIFET's editions spanned over 10 days, mostly between 1 and 10 September.
The CIFET was interrupted for five years after the January 2011 revolution, but it resumed in 2016 with Sameh Mahran as its president, and lasted for fewer days.
Rebranded as the Cairo International Festival for Contemporary and Experimental Theatre (CIFCET), the revamped festival limited its programme, reduced the number of days, and dropped its competitive format.
In 2020, the festival reverted to its original name (CIFET) under the presidency of late playwright Alaa Abdel-Aziz, who reinstated the competition.
In 2024, the festival's 31st edition ran for 11 days, marking the longest period for CIFET to present its activities. It was dedicated to Abdel-Aziz, one of the significant figures in Egypt's theatre academia, who passed away in February that year.
The 31st CIFET presented 26 plays chosen from 160 submissions from Egyptian and 300 international theatre troupes, marking a significant rise from 2023’s 19 performances.
The official competition showcased plays from Arab countries including Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Kuwait, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Palestine, and Jordan.
The international troupes included those from Spain, Romania, Germany, Hungary, India, Greece, Oman, South Africa, and Ecuador that marked the first-ever CIFET’s performance.
The programming of the 32nd CIFET has yet to be revealed.
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