Historic Cairo hosts diverse cultural performances during drum festival

Cairo's drum festival opened this week, bringing together around 40 folkloric troupes from around the world.

The 11th International Festival for Drums and Traditional Arts kicked off in historic Cairo and will run until the end of the week.

The event featured a Palestinian troupe as well as groups from various countries including Japan, China and India.

More than 30 troupes from all over Egypt are also participating.

Audience members cheered as performers from Egypt played songs the crowd knew by heart.

The festival originally started in 2009 with the aim of sending a message of peace through spiritual music.

"Percussions were a great way to make everyone come together. There was a message of peace and unity which we loved," said Anouk Honore, a French woman who attended a show at the festival.

The event focuses on drums because they were originally used during wars, so the founder says he wanted to take an instrument that was originally used for war-like purposes to talk about art and peace.

"We are trying as much as possible to humanely communicate with the world's cultures to emphasize love, forgiveness and peace," says Intisar Abdel Fattah, the founder and director of the festival.

A number of historical and cultural sites were chosen as the backdrop for the shows throughout the festival.

"I am very proud of Egypt for organizing such an event, allowing us to enjoy various cultures from countries around the world," said Manal Kamal, who attended a show.