The Bibliotheca Alexandrina's Art Centre kicked off its 18th International Summer Festival on Saturday with a prestigious performance by Dina El-Wedidi and her band.

El-Wedidi performed her new single 'Ana Kont Bakhaf' (I Used to Be Afraid), in addition to Tedawar W-Tergaa (You Look and Return), which she re-launched in an acoustic version last week in dedication to its late writer Mido Zoheir. Fans have warmly interacted with El-Wedidi’s popular tracks like Al-Seirah, Kotr El-Wagaa and Fi Belad El-Agayeb.

The two-week festival will feature a variety of performances and lectures on different art forms before it concludes with a performance by pop star Mostafa Amar on 29 August.

Operating under strict safety measures in light of the coronavirus pandemic, the festival is dedicated to late Egyptian folk-dance icon Mahmoud Reda, who passed away on 10 July at the age of 89.



On Sunday, it will host Fouad and Mounib and Michelle Rounds band, while film director Adel Adeeb will give a master class entitled ‘The Role of the Film Director.’ The five-day ‘Low Budget Filmmaking’ workshop, conducted by the film director Ahmed Rashwan, is also kicking off on Sunday.

This week's programme also includes a stand-up comedy performance by Mohamed Helmy on Monday and a performance of El-Leila El-Kebira by Fabrica on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina orchestra, with conductor Nayer Nagui, will perform a selection from famous musicals.

On Thursday, Islamic Sufi chanter Mahmoud Eltohamy will perform, one day before Medhat Saleh on Friday. Next week will see musicians like AndrOmidA band (25 August), Nouran AbouTaleb (26) and Ali El-Haggar (27) in addition to a few dance performances and film screenings.

Cultural events and activities in Egypt were resumed last month as part of phase one of the country's reopening after the COVID-19 shutdowns. All events are being held under strict measures that include social distancing, obligatory masks, and sanitisation.

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