Egypt Ministry of Culture to stream live music

The performances are part of the ministry's Stay At Home, Culture Is Between Your Hands initiative, which was launched on 20 March to encourage Egyptians to stay home amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

The first concert will take place on 2 April and feature Assala. Other performances include Medhat Saleh on 5 April, jazz band Cairo Steps on 6 April, Mai Farouk on 7 April and Angham on 9 April. All the performances will be live from 9pm to 10 pm (GMT+2).

The ministry will also programme theatre performances and ballets as well as Arabic short films, plays and documentaries. 

Several Egyptian musicians have also announced dates for their solo livestream gigs via their YouTube channels. They include Mai Farouk on 3 April, Mostafa Haggag on 9 April and Disco Misr on 10 April.

The first band in Egypt to hold an online concert was Massar Egbari on 10 March via the band's official Facebook page. The concert was in partnership with Platform, a company that provides direct live music broadcasts on the Internet in the Middle East and publishes musical works online.

The band was set to represent Egypt at the 2020 edition of South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, between 13 and 22 March. The event was cancelled due to COVID-19 fears.

Egypt reported its first coronavirus case on 5 March. As of 2 April, the number of confirmed cases have risen to 779, including 52 deaths and 179 recoveries.

The country is currently under a 7pm to 6am curfew.