Africa is a country Bassam Al-Zoghby was at the closing ceremony of the second International Festival for Drums and Traditional Arts on 25 April to coincide with Sinai Liberation Day at Salaheddin Citadel in Beir Youssef Theatre. Founded by artist Intesar Abdel-Fattah, the festival's finale featured a large group performance by all the participating troupes from around 20 countries with a special focus on Africa. The Hassan Abdallah Al-Qurashi Award Association for Egyptian Poets celebrated the 10th commemoration of the late poet Hassan Abdallah Al-Qurashi at the Pyramisa Hotel in the presence of intellectuals and journalists. Among the attendees were veteran poet and member of the award's board of trustees Farouk Shousha, Al-Qurashi's daughters Laila and Gawaher and his son Osama, author Wadi Felistine, poets Khaled Mustafa, Ali Gamal. Shousha's speech about Al-Qurashi was followed by the handing out of the awards to Mahmoud Farghal, Hanaa Al-Mashriqi and Adel Nomeir in first, second and third places respectively. Sky News honoured a number of Egyptian figures at a giant ceremony held at the Four Seasons Nile Plaza Hotel celebrating the launch of the channel's office in Cairo, headed by Samir Omar: the former Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa, executive manager of the Madgi Yacoub Association Anisa Hassouna on behalf of world renowned heart surgeon Magdi Yacoub, author Bahaa Taher, journalist Gamal Fahmi, poet Sayed Hegab, poet Hisham Al-Gakh and pianist Omar Khairat. Present were the Lebanese Ambassador to Egypt Khaled Ziyada and his Algerian counterpart Nazir Al-Arabawi, the President's Media Advisor Ahmed Al-Meslmani, the head of Board of Trustees of the Future University Khaled Azazi, the head of Sky News Arabia Nart Bouran, the head of Lawyers Syndicate Sameh Ashour, the Chairman of ONTV satellite channels Albert Shafik, actor Hisham Selim, politician Bothaina Kamel and retired radio presenter Abla Fadila. The Embassy of the Netherlands in Egypt celebrated King's Day, honouring King Willem Alexander in the presence of senior Egyptian officials and figures from the diplomatic community. Dutch Ambassador Gerard Steeghs reflected on this year's celebration saying, “Besides celebrating the birthday of our King, we also celebrate the birthday of another important aspect of Dutch history: this year it is 200 years ago that the constitution of the Kingdom of the Netherlands was approved and entered into force.” Steeghs pointed out that in that same year, Egypt voted yes to its own new constitution. He added, however, that even after 200 years, some say the Dutch constitution is incomplete as it does not have a preamble. He argued that people, and not constitutions, create perfect societies and governments through sustained and hard work. “In all countries it takes time and effort to translate into laws and government institutions what society needs and what the people want.” The Back to Tahrir Book Fair, organised by the American University in Cairo (AUC) Press Book Club, will include discussions at the AUC Tahrir Square Campus from 3 to 5 May. The fair is open to the public from 9am to 5pm where thousands of books will be sold at the reduced price LE10. Serbian Ambassador to Egypt Dragon Bisenic gave a reception at his residence in Zamalek featuring a performance by Serbian pianist Hrvoje Ivovic to celebrate the Serbian Spring Piano Festival. Present were high-profile figures and diplomats: Singaporean Ambassador Premjith Sadasivan, Japanese Ambassador Toshiro Suzuki, Chinese Ambassador Song Aiguo, Hungarian Ambassador Peter Kveck, Russian Ambassador Serge Kirpichenko, Austrian Ambassador Ferdinand Maultasch and his Armenian counterpart Armen Melkonyan as well as military expert Sameh Seif Al-Yazal. Sultry Iraqi singer Claudia Hanna featured in a thrilling concert with its revenues allocated to building a care house for street children at Concorde Al-Salam in Sharm Al-Sheikh. She was accompanied by Lebanese singer Assi Al-Hellani singing a number of her own songs as well as Egyptian love and patriotic songs. To mark the 20th anniversary of the end of Apartheid, the South African Ambassador to Egypt Noluthando Mayende Sibiya gave a reception party at Marriott Zamalek. She affirmed the “strong and ancient ties” between her country and Egypt and wished Egypt successful presidential elections. Present were the Minister of Health Adel Adawi, the Foreign Minister's Assistant for African Affairs Sabri Magdi and diplomats including Jordanian Ambassador Bishr Al-Khasawena, British Ambassador James Watt, Algerian Ambassador Nazir Al-Arabawi, Palestinian Ambassador Bararkat Al-Fara, Indian Ambassador Navdeep Suri and his wife Mani, Japanese Ambassador Toshiro Suzuki and Ecuador Ambassador Edwin Johnson, together with businessman Mustafa Nassar.
