Faithful end Ramadan fast at iftar spanning Cairo neighbourhood

An estimated 10,000 residents sat down together for post-sunset meal in Giza's lower income Faisal neighbourhood

Men, women and children dined together at the iftar in Faisal. Photo: Ali Mohamed

With the end of Ramadan fast approaching, an estimated 10,000 people sat down in Cairo's Faisal neighbourhood at sunset on Tuesday to dine together at tables arranged end-to-end across 13 streets and alleys.

For residents, it was only the second time they were hosting the mass iftar after a similar event held during Ramadan last year.

Communal meals are a fixture of Ramadan in Egypt, where it is common for wealthy citizens to provide iftar tables for those less well off throughout the month, but the iftar in Faisal, a lower income neighbourhood in the capital's Giza district, was organised by the residents themselves.

Housewives and young men from the area volunteered their time to prepare the food, lay out the tables and decorate the neighbourhood.

Servings of beef, rice and potatoes were cooked at makeshift kitchens set up on the street near the tables, while strings of coloured lights and Ramadan-themed ornaments such as lanterns and crescent moons were strung up overhead.

However, a lot of the food that ended up being served was prepared and brought to the iftar by households in the area. These dishes were more varied and they gave the iftar the feel of a neighbourhood dish party as people arrived holding foil-covered pots of various sizes to share with other diners.

Men, women and children sat down together to eat together, in a break from the tradition of men and women dining separately in public.

From large speakers set up at various points throughout the dining area, traditional Ramadan songs played as locals sang or clapped along.

Another mass iftar organised by locals was held in the north Cairo district of Matareya on April 6, the 15th day of Ramadan, for a ninth year.

Unlike the iftar in Faisal, the Matareya event is well known and received wide coverage from the country’s top media outlets.