Bring Back Nile Festivals as Tourist Attractions, Experts Say

BY MARIAM HASSANEIN
@MARIAM_14

Major cities such as Rio de Janeiro, New York, New Orleans and even Dublin have their own festivals and parades embracing traditions that attract thousands of tourists annually.

Cairo could have been listed alongside those cities, because it used to celebrate Wafa’a el Nile [loyalty to the Nile], a festival commemorating the annual flooding of the river.

This would have been particularly poignant given that Egypt is currently taking a number of steps towards reviving the dormant tourism industry.

Alia Al Masry, tour guide at Misr Travel, says the reintroduction of the festival could be a major tourist attraction.

In ancient times, the flooding of the Nile festival was held to offer thanks to the great river for leaving the lands fertile.

The festivities took place over 14 consecutive days, and the people used to throw money and flowers into the Nile’s waters in thanks.

They would also sacrifice a young girl – referred to as the bride of the Nile – as an offering to Habi, the god of the river.

Centuries after the disappearance of the practice, the celebration made a comeback during the reign of King Fouad – where the festival was celebrated annually on August 15 which coincided perfectly with the time the pharaohs celebrated the flood.

The celebration first gained prominence in the 1930s, seen as a sign of respect for the ancient Egyptian culture.

Al Masry further states that whether commemorated in ancient or modern times, the festival was a crucial event and part of the Egyptian identity.

“Tourists are aware of our history but they are not aware of our culture, so imagine if this festival made a comeback in the era of social media and the internet. It would be an absolute success,” Al Masry said.

Decades later during Nasser’s era, the celebration grew more popular after being hosted by the Ministry of Culture.

It involved parades and decorative moats.

The festival was so big, in fact, that the 1960s blockbuster ‘Aroos el Nile [The Bride of the Nile] starring Roshdy Abaza and Lobna Abdel Aziz was based entirely on it – telling the story of how a man fell in love with the ghost of the Nile’s bride.

Later towards the late 1970s, however, the celebrations died out once again.

Mona Abdel Wahab, head of the Bibliotheca Alexandria Antiques Museum, told The Caravan that the disappearance of festival was catastrophic.

She also said that many would commute to Cairo in order to attend the festivities.

“Many tourists and Egyptians used to wait by the Nile to observe those beautiful ships. The newspapers and the radio would announce the festivities to keep Egyptians living abroad in the loop,” Abdel Wahab said.

In spite of that, however, there is little documentation of the festivities and information about the festival in the media is sparse.

Festival goer Hossam Ezzo reminisced about the flamboyant parades and the successful organization by the ministry.

Ezzo believes the younger generation needs to be made aware of this celebration if it is ever to make a comeback.

“The ships sailed along the banks of the Nile in Cairo, while people cheered on either side,” Ezzo told The Caravan.

“They tried to imitate the original festival as much as possible, even including the drop off of the bride – a fake one of course – but that was my favorite part of the celebration,” added Fatheya Moustafa, another festival goer.

Some say the onus is on today’s media to sufficiently cover similar events. They say even Egyptians may not be aware of the cultural venues on offer.