Muslim festivals
MOHARRAM . New Year begins on Ras el-Sana el-Hegira , the first day of Moharram. The initial ten days of this first month are blessed, especially the eve of the tenth day ( Leylat Ashura), which commemorates the martyrdom of Hussein at Karbala. Until this century, it witnessed passionate displays by Cairo's Shia minority - the men would lash themselves with chains. Nowadays, Sunni Muslims observe the next day ( Yom Ashura) with prayers and charity; the wealthy often feed poor families, serving them personally to demonstrate humility. But aside from zikrs outside Hussein's Mosque, there's little to see.

SAFAR AND RABI AL-AWWAL . In olden days the return of the pilgrims from Mecca ( Nezlet el-Hagg) occasioned great festivities at the Bab al-Futuh towards the end of Safar, the second month. Nowadays, celebrations are localized, as pilgrims are feasted on the evening of their return, their homes festooned with red and white bunting and painted with Hadj scenes. However, it's still customary to congregate below the Citadel a week later and render thanksgiving zikrs in the evening. Previously, these gatherings blended into the Prophet's birthday ( Moulid al-Nabi) celebrations during the next month, Rabi al-Awwal, which run from the third day to the night of the twelfth, the last being its great day. The eve of the twelfth - known as the Blessed Night ( Leylat Mubarak) - witnesses spectacular processions and fireworks, with munshids (singers of poetry) invoking spiritual aid while crowds chant " Allahu Hei! Ya Daim! " (God is Living! O Everlasting!). Midan el-Hussein, the Rifai Mosque and Ezbekiya Gardens are the best vantage points.

RABI EL-TANI . During the fourth month, Rabi el-Tani, the Moulid of El-Hussein gathers pace over a fortnight, its big day usually a Tuesday, its leyla kebira on Wednesday night. Hussein's Mosque in Khan el-Khalili is surrounded by crowds chanting " Allah Mowlana! " (God is our Lord!), dozens of zikrs and amplified munshids, plus all the usual side shows. Also in this month is the smaller Moulid of Saiyida Sukayna - at her mosque on Sharia el-Khalifa.

GUMAD EL-TANI . On a Thursday or Friday in the middle of the sixth month, Gumad el-Tani, Sufis of the Rifai order attend the Moulid of Al-Rifai at his mosque below the Citadel. Those carrying black flags belong to the mainstream Rifaiyah; subsects include the Awlad Ilwan (once famous for thrusting nails into their eyes and swallowing hot coals) and the Sa'adiya (snake charmers, who used to allow their sheikh to ride over them on horseback). Dervishes are less evident at the Moulid of Saiyida Nafisa (on a Wed or Thurs mid-month, or a Tues towards the end of the month), but the event is equally colourful.

RAGAB . The seventh month is dominated by the great Moulid of Saiyida Zeinab , Cairo's "patron saint", which lasts for fifteen days and attracts up to a million people on its big day and leyla kebira (a Tues & Wed in the middle of the month). A much smaller, "local" event is the Moulid of Sheikh al-Dashuti on the 26th day of Ragab, at his mosque near the junction of Faggala and Bur Said streets, 1km northwest of the Bab al-Futuh. The eve of the 27th is observed by all Muslims as the Leylat el-Mirag or Night of Ascension , with zikrs outside the Abdin Palace and principal mosques.

SHA'BAN . During the eighth month, Sha'ban, the week-long Moulid of Imam al-Shafi'i enlivens his mausoleum in the Southern Cemetery from one Wednesday to the next. The eve of the 15th is believed to be the time when Allah determines the fate of every human over the ensuing year, so the faithful hope to gain baraka.

RAMADAN AND THE EID AL-FITR The sighting of the new moon on the Leylat er-Ruyeh (Night of Observation) marks the onset of Ramadan , a month of fasting from sunrise to sunset, with festivities every night. Zikrs and Koranic recitations draw crowds to El-Gumhorriya and El-Hussein squares, while secular delights are concentrated around Ezbekiya and other areas. The Leylat el-Qadr (Night of Power) on the eve of the 27th of the month was traditionally marked by Whirling and Howling Dervishes at Mohammed Ali's Mosque at the Citadel. The end of Ramadan heralds the three-day Eid al-Fitr or "Little Feast", when people buy new clothes, visit friends, mosques, shrines and family graves. In the past, this was followed by the procession of the kisweh (the brocaded cloth which covers the sacred Ka'ba at Mecca), a prelude to the departure of the pilgrims around the 23rd day of Shawwal. Given modern transport, however, most pilgrims now depart in the following month, Zoul Qiddah, with local send-offs that counterpoint the Nezlet al-Hagg.

ZOUL HAGGA . The twelfth month, Zoul Hagga, is notable for the "Feast of Sacrifice" or Eid al-Adha (the "Great Feast", Corban Bairam ), which involves the mass slaughter of sheep and other livestock on the 10th, commemorating Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice Ismail to Allah (the Muslim version of the story of Abraham and Isaac).

MOULID OF SIDI ALI AL-BAYOUMI . Last but not least, there's another colourful parade of Dervishes at the Moulid of Sidi Ali al-Bayoumi , the Rifai sects proceeding from El-Hussein's Mosque to the Bab al-Futuh and thence into the Husseiniya quarter. Unlike most Muslim festivals, this is unrelated to the Islamic calendar, happening in early October .

Coptic festivals
It should be emphasized that Coptic festivals are primarily religious, with fewer diversions than Muslim ones. Unless you're into church services, the "moveable" feasts centred around Easter (which follows the Coptic calendar rather than the Western one), Christmas (January 7), Epiphany (January 19) and the Feast of Annunciation (March 21) have little to offer.

However, there's more to enjoy at two festivals in Old Cairo: the Moulid of Mari Girgis at the round Church of St George (April 23) and the Moulid of the Holy Family at the Church of St Sergius (June 1). Moreover, all Egyptians observe the ancient pharaonic-Coptic spring festival known as Sham el-Nessim (literally "Sniffing the Breeze"), when families picnic on salted fish, onions and coloured eggs in gardens and cemeteries.

Weddings
There's nothing bashful about Cairo weddings or the curiosity of spectators. On Thursday nights the city resounds with convoys of honking cars conveying guests to Nile-side hotels and casinos; and with ululations, drums and tambourines welcoming the newlyweds (often preceded by a belly dancer), whom relatives shower with rose petals. In poorer quarters all the bridal furniture and wedding guests are first displayed to admiring neighbours.

At the reception itself, the couple sit receiving congratulations (" Alf mabrouk " is the formal salutation) while relatives and friends perform impromptu dances. Guests may be segregated, allowing both sexes to let their hair down: women can dance and smoke, men indulge in spirits (or hashish, in private homes). Although it's not uncommon for foreign onlookers to be invited into middle-class or baladi wedding parties, rich ones are predictably exclusive, but good for a brief show.

Whirling Dervishes
The Mowlawiyya are Egyptian adherents of a Sufi sect founded in Konya, Turkey, during the mid-thirteenth century, and known to Westerners as the Whirling Dervishes . Their Turkish name, Mevlevi, refers to their original Master, who extolled music and dancing as a way of shedding earthly ties and abandoning oneself to God's love. The Sufi ideal of attaining union with God has often been regarded by orthodox Muslims as blasphemous, and only during Mamluke and Ottoman times did the Whirling Dervishes flourish without persecution.

In modern Egypt the sect is minuscule compared to other Sufi orders, and rarely appears at moulids, but a tourist version of the famous whirling ceremony is staged at the Ghuriya cultural centre in Al-Ghuri's Mausoleum. If the Mowlawiyya are in Cairo, performances are held on Wednesdays and Saturdays starting at 9pm; arrive early to get a good seat, although this may entail getting cooked by the heat. The performances are free, sponsored by the government, and last for about an hour. Photos are permitted but not videos - if you bring a video camera along you'll have to leave the battery at the desk.

Each element of the whirling ceremony ( samaa) has symbolic significance. The music symbolizes that of the spheres, and the turning of the dervishes that of the heavenly bodies. The gesture of extending the right arm towards heaven and the left towards the floor denotes that grace is being received from God and distributed to humanity without anything being retained by the dervishes. Their camelhair hats represent tombstones; their black cloaks the tomb itself; their white skirts shrouds. During the samaa the cloaks are discarded.