Many hundreds of Egypt’s youth, civil society and diplomatic community gather together in Alexandria for the ‘Summer Nights’ Festival Weekend as international organisers announce new cultural investment for the city.

During the weekend of 18th to 19th June 2010, with the presence of the Governor of Alexandria, European Diplomats to Egypt and leading cultural institutions, the historic Gardens of Villa Antoniadis played host to a ‘Euro-Mediterranean’ weekend of cultural activities.The weekend event kicked off on Friday evening with a very first public concert with young hip-hop artists from Egypt, Turkey, Germany and France, and culminated last night with an Intercultural Food Festival involving the 27 countries of the European Union (EU).

Speaking on the closing day, Marc Franco, Ambassador of the Delegation of the European Union in Egypt, said: “Bringing all the representatives of the European Union here for the first time in this way underlines the importance of Alexandria not only as a city of the past with a renowned cosmopolitan history but also as a city of the future, at the centre of cultural cooperation across the two shores of the Mediterranean.”

The Festival Weekend also marked an opportunity for Ambassador Franco to meet with the Governor of Alexandria about deepening cooperation between the European Union and Alexandria, as well as a meeting with Ismail Serageldin about EU partnership with the Bibliotheca Alexandrina and an invitation by the President of Alexandria University to speak about cooperation in the field of Higher Education.

Andreu Claret, Executive Director of the Anna Lindh Foundation, which coordinates projects across the ‘43 Euro-Mediterranean Countries from its international headquarters in Alexandria-Egypt, said: “Alexandria deserves this kind of investment and to be at the heart of Regional Dialogue. It is a city which is in an exciting process of evolution and can play a leading role in bringing people together from diverse cultural backgrounds for intercultural dialogue and mutual understanding.”

The Anna Lindh Foundation and partners also announced on the closing day that this October 2010 will see the return to Alexandria of the ‘Farah Al Bahr’ Festival, the internationally renowned intercultural event which uses music, culture and the arts as a way to engage civil society and the general public in Regional Cooperation.

The ‘Summer Nights’ weekend of events have been put together through a wide-ranging partnership that includes the European Union Delegation to Egypt, the Goethe-Institute, the French Cultural Centre, the Franco-German ‘Elysée Fund’, the Confederation of Egyptian Business Associations and the Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation.

Daniel Stoevesandt, Director of the Goethe-Institute in Alexandria, the cultural institution that also heads the Civil Society Network of the Anna Lindh Foundation in Germany, said: “Establishing bridges between cultures and artists is the focus of our activities worldwide, and therefore jamming sessions and workshops between musicians from these five countries are essential to ensure that members of the wider public have the chance to see, hear and feel what ‘Euro-Mediterranean’ looks like.”

For more information on the event, log on to: http://www.euromedalex.org/summernights2010