The Egyptian Theater Festival: A Celebration of Egyptian Performing Arts

Symposium on Folk Women’s Songs

The Egyptian Theater Festival, headed by artist Mohamed, devoted a symposium entitled “Folk Women’s Songs in the Oases, Delta, and Upper Egypt,” as part of a series of symposia on the intellectual axis of the festival, which raised the slogan “Egyptian Women and Performing Arts.”

The symposium will be attended by: Dr. Khatri Arabi, poet and researcher Masoud Shoman, and the session will be moderated by Dr. Khaled Abu Al-Layl. The festival will also host the Nile Folk Instruments Band during the symposium, and Dr. Muhammad Shahata Al-Omda and Dr. Abdul Karim Al-Hajrawi will speak.

The Nile Folk Instruments Band

The symposium began with singing by the Nile Folk Instruments Band, which opened the symposium with a song from the Egyptian heritage, a song that begins with the phrase “In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.” The band consists of 20 male and female artists, including musicians, singers, and female singers.

About the Egyptian Theater Festival

The Egyptian Theatre Festival is an important artistic event that showcases the features of Egyptian theatre throughout the year. Participation in the festival is open to shows produced by state theatre, the private sector, companies, civil society, amateur groups, university theatre, artistic unions, and various production entities, according to the controls adopted by the festival. The festival aims to encourage creative theatre artists to compete, as well as to develop shows in order to participate in creating works that are worthy of the antiquity of Egyptian theatre.

Mourning the Great Director Abdel Rahman El Shafei

At the beginning, all the band members mourned the great director and artist Abdel Rahman El Shafei, the band’s founder and spiritual father, who was able to achieve great success and dazzle the world with great folkloric heritage songs that he collected from all the villages and hamlets of Egypt.

The Festival Committee

The Egyptian Theater Festival is organized by the Egyptian Ministry of Culture under the leadership of Dr. Ahmed Fouad Hano. The session bears the name of the great artist “Samiha Ayoub”. The festival will be held from July 30 to August 17, 2024, on Cairo’s stages. The Supreme Committee consists of artist Mohamed Riad (President), artist Yasser Sadek (Festival Director), and festival general coordinator Ms. Magda Abdel-Alim. The committee members are: critics Alaa El-Shafei and Abla El-Roueini, writer Medhat El-Adl, writer Walid Youssef, artist Nidal El-Shafei, director Islam Imam, in addition to the membership of 6 other members in their positions, namely: the great director Khaled Galal, Head of the Cultural Production Sector, Dr. Walid Qanoush, Head of the Cultural Development Fund Sector, Dr. Ahmed Bahi El-Din, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Egyptian General Book Authority, writer Mohamed Abdel-Hafez Nasef, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the General Authority for Cultural Palaces, and the great artist Ihab Fahmy, Head of the Central Administration of the National Theater Center.

Nile Folk Instruments Band at the National Theatre Festival

Nile Folk Instruments Band at the Theatre Festival

Nile Folk Instruments Band

Conclusion

The Egyptian Theater Festival is a celebration of Egyptian performing arts, showcasing the rich cultural heritage of Egypt through music, dance, and theater. The festival aims to promote cultural exchange and understanding between different regions of Egypt and the world.

FAQs

Q: When will the festival take place?
A: The festival will take place from July 30 to August 17, 2024.

Q: Who is the organizer of the festival?
A: The Egyptian Ministry of Culture is the organizer of the festival.

Q: What is the theme of the festival?
A: The theme of the festival is “Egyptian Women and Performing Arts”.