Egypt Festival and Holidays

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Egypt has many holidays and festivals of different kinds; Muslim and Christian; national and local. Many of them are called moulids, which are the equivalent of medieval European religious fairs that mix religion, fun and commerce.

The purpose of a moulid is to actually to obtain blessing from a patron saint, but the social aspects are also important. It is an opportunity for people to escape their normal lives for several days of festivities, and for friends and families from different villages to meet. Farming problems are discussed, as well as family matters - and marriage - as people sing, dance, eat and pray together. Often a group of participants belonging to a religious brotherhood, dressed in colourful clothes with sashes and turbans, will chant and sway for hours in an effort to attain a trance-like state of prayer.

Attending a moulid can be a very entertaining experience with the chance to see dancing, music and other folk entertainment. The large events draw huge crowds out to enjoy stalls and rides with music blaring into late evening. Small rural moulids tend to be more focussed on practical devotion, with people bringing their children or livestock for blessing, or perhaps sick relatives to be cured.

Most Islamic holidays and festivals follow the Islamic calendar; and because this is lunar-based the dates vary each year in relation to the Western calendar.

And if you're not interested in festivals, it is important to be at least aware of Ramadan; which is the period when all Muslims observe a daily fast for a month. The fast involves complete abstention from food, drink and smoking during daylight hours; and strict Muslims will even try to avoid swallowing so as not to "drink" their own saliva.

Ramadan is perhaps an equivalent to Christian Lent. In the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, Ramadan commemorates the revealing of the Koran to Mohammed. In contrast to most of the Christian world however, the Muslim world observes the fast rigorously.

This period can be a problem for travellers because of the changes in transport schedules and opening times; and most local cafés and restaurants close during the day.

But there is a compensation when evening is signalled by the sounding of sirens and the lighting of lamps on the minarets; a sense of calm and well-being prevails as everyone begins to eat and prepare for a night of celebration and entertainment.

If you are not a Muslim you are not expected to observe Ramadan, but it is good idea to be sensitive about not breaking the fast and particularly not smoking in public. In fact, the best way to experience Ramadan is to enter into it. You may not be able to last without an occasional glass of water; and you might want to have breakfast later than sunrise; but it is worth a try and you'll win local people's respect.

Another important religious holiday is the Moulid for the Prophet Mohammed's birthday. This is widely observed, with processions in many towns and cities.

Luxor's festival includes a parade of boats; elsewhere, processions may be led by camels or floats. Then there are traditional entertainments: mock stick fights; conjurers; acrobats; snake charmers; and belly dancers.

The largest moulids are in Cairo, Tanta and Luxor. Cairo hosts three lengthy festivals plus numerous smaller ones. Following the cotton harvest in October, the Moulid of El-Bedawi in Tanta starts a cycle of lesser Nile Delta festivals that runs well into November. Equally spectacular is the Moulid of Abu el-Haggag in Luxor, held during the Islamic month of Sha'ban.

Egypt's Christian Coptic minority often attend Islamic moulids – and vice versa. Coptic moulids share some of the social and market functions of their Islamic counterparts and similarly their function is the celebration of a saint's name-day. As you'd expect, the major Christian events of the year are also celebrated. A Coptic festival celebrated by all Egyptians is the Sham el-Nessim, a coming-of-spring festival which provides the excuse for mass picnics in parks and on riverbanks throughout the country.

Other holidays:
January 1 New Year's Day
April 25 Liberation Day
Monday after Easter Sham el-Nessim
May 1 Labour Day
July 23 Revolution Day
October 6 Armed Forces Day
October 23 Suez Day
December 23 Victory Day

The dates of Christmas (January 6/7), Epiphany (January 19) and the Annunciation (March 21) are as specified in the Julian calendar used by the Orthodox Church, but Easter and its related feast days are calculated from the solar Coptic calendar and can differ from Western dates by up to one month.