France-based percussionist Imed Alibi will perform a concert featuring Tunisian Sufi singer Mounir Troudi at Cairo’s El-Genaina Theatre on 19 June as part of this year’s Hayy Festival. 

According to the press release issued by El-Genaina Theatre earlier this month, the duet “fuses Bedouin musical heritage with Sufi poetry, Berber music, Maghribi folklore, a dose of rock and a hint of electronic music.”

The concert will come one day after a double-bill concert by Kel Assouf, a five-member Touareg rock band and Sudanese singer and percussionist Asia Madani, also as part of this year's Hayy Festival.  

This year’s edition of the Ramadan Hayy Festival kick started on 12 June with a mesmerising night featuring Lebanese musician, singer and oud master Charbel Rouhana, who was accompanied by his new band and project the World Music Ensemble, and the Egyptian oriental music band Karkade.

Hayy is an annual festival that was first founded during Ramadan in 2005, with a diverse line-up of artistic events, including musical performances, Sufi chanting concerts, poetry recitals, circus and puppet shows and more, setting the tone for a series of dynamic and evolving editions over the following years.

The annual festival celebrated Ramadan with artistic events that reflect the multi-layered nature of Egyptian cultural heritage, featuring acts from Cairo, the Nile Delta, Upper Egypt and Suez, among others.

This year’s edition, which runs until 25 June, features an array of concerts by regional and international musicians and marks a shift “towards a new formula that offers audiences double-bill nights introducing performances from regional and local bands," reads the press release.

"In keeping with El-Genaina's aims to support artistic creativity and foster cultural exchange, Hayy Festival 2016 features music that reflects the multi-layered identities of Egyptian and Arab cultural heritage and will include oriental, African, Sufi, and tarab musical performances,” adds the press release. 

Progamme:
Sunday 19 June, 9.30pm

El Genaina Theatre, Al-Azhar Park, Cairo

Check the full programme of the festival here.

For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture