The closing ceremony, which featured a performance from Syrian songwriter and singer Tarek Alarabi Tourgane and his sons, was attended by some notable VIPs, including Minister of Culture Ines Abdel-Dayem and Governor of Qena Ashraf El-Daoudi as well as other cultural and political figures.

The festival, which is part of a plan to expand cultural activities in touristic ancient Egyptian sights, kicked off on Thursday with a concert from veteran singer Hany Shaker, one day before Riham Abdel-Hakim, Yasser Soliman, and Iman Abdel-Ghany took to the stage.

Amid the festival, the culture ministry also launched a book fair at Qena’s Girls’ Club that includes a collection on a variety of topics and hosted a number of folkloric dance performances.

The first edition of the festival was held in 2020 and featured concerts from Medhat Saleh, Black Theama, Ali El-Haggar, Wust El-Balad, Dina El-Wedidi, Mai Farouk, Mohamed Mohsen, and Massar Egbari.

The Dendera Temple is one of the best-preserved ancient Egyptian temples. It was built mainly of sandstone and was uncovered in the mid-19th century by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette.

This weekend, the great Upper Egyptian ancient city of Abydos in Sohag will also be hosting three successive concerts starting Thursday 10 March as part of the Abydos Music Festival, featuring concerts by Yassin El-Tohamy, Ali El-Haggar, and Medhat Saleh, respectively.