Interested troupes can submit their entries until 1 February through the dedicated links.
Troupes from the Arab countries (except Egypt) are invited to fill out this application.
International troupes are invited to fill out this application.
All conditions are explained in the links provided.
Egyptian performances will be invited to apply at a later stage
Cairo International Festival for Experimental Theatre
One of the oldest and most important artistic festivals in Egypt, CIFET was launched in 1988 by the former Minister of Culture Farouk Hosny to put Egypt on the international theatrical map.
Today, the festival serves as a platform for experimentation, research, and interaction, allowing participating troupes to present innovative theatrical forms that blend live performance with technology and explore new ways of engaging with audiences and theatrical spaces. It also contributes to building bridges of artistic and intellectual communication between Arab and international creators through seminars, workshops, and intellectual encounters held alongside its events.
From its second edition through 2010, the CIFET was presided over by the late scholar-writer and former president of the Academy of Arts Fawzy Fahmy.
The festival was interrupted for five years after the January 2011 Revolution, but it returned in 2016 with Sameh Mahran as its president. It was renamed the Cairo International Festival for Contemporary and Experimental Theatre (CIFCET), limited its programme and dropped its competitive character.
The name reverted to the CIFET in its 27th edition (2020), when Alaa Abdel-Aziz took over and the competition was reinstated. Due to COVID-19, international shows were held online while Egyptian plays were staged across Cairo’s theatres.
Following COVID-19, the festival's 28th and 29th editions were presided over by Gamal Yakout, while Mohamed El-Shafei and Saeed Kabeel served as artistic directors.
Since 30th edition (2023), Mahran returned as president while El-Shafei serves as general coordinator.
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