The 31st edition of the Arab Music Festival and Conference kicked off on Thursday 20 October until 3 November, 2022 hosting dozens of Egyptian and Arab singers, musicians and researches in Cairo, Alexandria and Damanhour.

The opening held at the Cairo Opera House’s Fountain Theatre with a celebration of the 100^th anniversary of Egyptian musician Ali Ismail, with a number of singers and soloists participating, in addition to the Cairo Opera Ballet Company.

Organised by the Culture Ministry, the 15-day event host almost 40 concerts featuring about 100 artists from various Arab countries at the Cairo, Alexandria and Damanhour Opera Houses as well as Cairo’s Arab Music Institute and Gomhoreya Theatre.

The performers list includes some of the most well-known Egyptian and Arab singers, bands and instrumentalists.

The programme features famous Arab singers like Moroccan Fouad Zbadi and Jannat, Lebanese Ragheb Alama, Ramy Ayach, Carole Samaha, Diana Haddad, Assi El Hallani and Melhem Zein, Tunisian Saber Rebaï, Iraqi Humam Ibrahim Syrian Waad Al Bahri and Assala, among other singers and soloists and bands from Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia among other Arab countries.

The Egyptian stars include Mai Farouk, Nadia Mostafa, Marwa Nagi, Mohamed El-Helw, Ali El-Haggar, Afaf Radi, Mohamed Mohsen, Medhat Saleh, Ahmed Ibrahim, Mai Kamal, Khaled Selim, Reham Abd Elhakim and the festival’s surprise Mohamed Mounir as well musician Omar Khairat.

The festival’s conference activities are taking place at the Cairo Opera House’s small hall between 22 and 26 October, with the main topics of discussion revolving around musical theatre in Arab music heritage.

The event also sees workshops and competitions in singing, song writing and instrumental performance, including categories for youngsters, kids and special needs talents in addition to newly added categories for non-music reader instrumentalists.

Running under the presidency of the Cairo Opera House head Magdy Sabeer and managed by Jihan Morsi, the prestigious event honors a number of iconic names including late Egyptian musician Ali Ismail and music historian Zein Nassar.

The honorees long list includes Lebanese singer Ragheb Alama, Kuwaiti composer Yaacoub Al Khubayzi, and Bahrani singer Ahmed Al Jumairi.

From Egypt, the festival is also honoring singer Safaa Abu Saoud, actor, producer and TV presenter Essad Youniss, composers Moody ElImam and Hussein Fawzi, musician Atef Imam, poets Shawky Hegab and Hani Abdel-Kerim and professors Maged Askar and Saleh Reda.

The Cairo Opera House’s Fountain Theatre is the festival’s main venue, and the highlights of the programme are as follows: