The upcoming weekend will witness the continuation of two big events: the 21st Bibliotheca Alexandrina International Summer Festival and the second New Alamein Festival. This will be topped with a few events taking place on the North Coast.

Meanwhile, Cairo will see the opening of the 32nd Citadel Festival for Music and Singing.

Let's dive into the programme details of this rich weekend.

Thursday 15 August
 

The Bibliotheca Alexandrina International Summer Festival welcomes legendary pianist and composer Omar Khairat for two consecutive days, Wednesday (14 August) and Thursday (15 August).

Further to the West on the Mediterranean coast, we will listen to great musicians. On Thursday, the Wust El-Balad band joined by El-Waili will take the stage of the Lighthouse Beach Theatre at the MV Ras El-Hekma.

In parallel, Marsa Matrouh's audiences can attend a concert by Tamer Ashour, who will perform his Layali Misr project. The event will take place at the Air Defense Village in Marsa Matrouh. 

For those in Cairo, the main event will be the opening of the Citadel Festival for Music and Singing.

The opening will feature marimba player Nesma Abdel-Aziz accompanied by her band, blending the oriental and Western themes. 

Following Abdel-Aziz, singer Carmen Soliman, who rose to fame by winning the first Arab Idol in 2012, will take the citadel's stage.

Over the past years, Soliman’s music videos proved very successful with Leena Ra’sa amassing over 90 million views on YouTube.

 

 

Friday 16 August
 

In Cairo, the historic Salah El-Din citadel will feature the Arab Music Ensemble accompanying the Talents Development Children Choir, under the baton of Alaa Abdel-Salam. 

This unique evening will showcase the centre's young talents during the Citadel Festival.

Then, the stage will welcome the Cairo Opera House singers who will perform songs by Warda, accompanied by the same orchestra.

Alexandrian audiences will be able to attend the performance of Franco-Tunisian musician Nawel Ben Kraiem, known for her unique blend of electronic and Arabic music. Her performance on Friday is part of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina Summer Festival.

On Friday, the New Alamein Festival will see three renowned music acts taking the stage of Musical Arena: Massar Egbari, Hamza Namira, and Souad Massi.

Hamza Namira has noticeably appeared on different stages this August. He opened the Bibliotheca Alexandrina International Summer Festival on 1 August

He is also scheduled to perform at the Citadel Festival for Music and Singing on Sunday 18 August.

Furthermore, the Friday programme of the Roman Theatre will showcase folkloric performers: Banat El-Sira and Folklorita band.

Banat El-Sira consists of four female singers and three instrumentalists. The troupe was the first to chant the Al-Hilali epic.

The Folklorita band combines folkloric heritage with modern instruments. It consists of nine female singers, eight instrumentalists, and five dancers. 

Founded just a few months ago, Folklorita also incorporates tanoura and original tracks into their performances. In several weeks, they took the stages of many Egyptian cities.

 

 

Saturday 17 August
 

Black Theama band will perform at the Citadel Festival for Music and Singing on Saturday.

Their concert is part of the band's celebrations of their 20th anniversary this year. The band has already held a celebratory concert in El-Sawy Culturewheel last weekend.

After that, singer Loay will return to the citadel with many iconic hits.

 

Check the 2nd New Alamein Festival programme here, the 21st Bibliotheca Alexandrina Summer Festival programme here, and the 32nd Citadel Festival for Music and Singing programme here.