Arab Music Festival and Conference

Ten days of Arab music at the Opera

Every autumn, the Cairo Opera House devotes about ten days to Arab music: concerts by great performers, orchestras, young talent and, alongside, a conference where Egyptian and Arab researchers present their work. The festival was born in the 1990s at the initiative of Ratiba El-Hefny, musicologist and the Opera's first chair after its opening; a singing competition now bears her name.

The repertoire ranges from classical Egyptian song, that of Umm Kulthum and her contemporaries, to today's voices of Arab popular music. For travellers, it is a chance to hear this music in a large concert hall, with an orchestra.

In 2025, the 33rd edition, dedicated to Umm Kulthum for the fiftieth anniversary of her death, brought together 83 artists in 41 concerts over ten days.

The 2026 edition

The 34th edition had eleven evenings, from Tuesday 20 to Friday 30 October 2026, one more than in 2025. It was dedicated to Hany Shaker, known as the "Prince of Arab Singing", who died in Paris on 3 May 2026. The Cairo Opera House, chaired by Reza El-Wakil, organised it; maestro Mohamed El-Mougy was festival director.

Concerts were spread across several stages:

• the Cairo Opera House Main Hall, 1,200 seats, on Gezira Island in Zamalek, where the opening night took place;
• the Arab Music Institute, in Cairo;
• the Sayed Darwish Theatre, in Alexandria;
• the Damanhour Opera House, in the Nile Delta.

Conference sessions took place in the Opera's Small Hall. Two competitions, for oud and for singing, were open to performers aged 17 to 40, with heats on 25 and 26 October.

The full line-up was announced by the Opera shortly before the opening. Artists named by its management included Mohamed El-Helw, Ali El-Haggar, Reham Abdel Hakim, Ghada Ragab and Nadia Mostafa.

Going to a concert

Tickets. In 2025 they were sold on the Egyptian platform Tazkarti and at the festival box office. Sabaro recommends booking as soon as the programme is published.

Dress. The Opera's Main Hall has a dress code: jacket and tie for men; for women, smart clothes, no jeans. The Small Hall and the open-air theatre are more relaxed.

Times. Concerts are held in the evening. During the festival, Cairo was 2 hours ahead of London; the gap widened by one hour from 25 to 29 October, as Europe switched to winter time a few days before Egypt.

Where to stay. The Opera is on Gezira Island, in the middle of the Nile. Riverside hotels are the closest: the Four Seasons Nile Plaza, in Garden City, or the Fairmont Nile City, on the corniche. The Marriott Mena House, at the foot of the Giza pyramids, suits travellers combining the festival with a stay focused on the pyramids and the Grand Egyptian Museum, with a longer journey in the evening.

An autumn of festivals in Cairo

By late October, the summer heat has passed: around 30 °C average maximum in Cairo in October, according to World Meteorological Organization (WMO) normals. The festival opened a busy autumn, which continues with the Forever Is Now contemporary art exhibition on the Giza Plateau from 4 November, then the Cairo International Film Festival, from 11 to 20 November.