Residents of Siwa Oasis started their traditional Siyahet festival on Sunday, gathering at the foot of Mount Dakrur for communal meals and prayer sessions.
The three-day event coincides with the date harvest each year and is normally held on the October full moon.
This year, according to tradition, tents were set up and calves slaughtered for shared meals prepared by cooks from around the oasis.
The event has been celebrated for over 200 years and is said to have started as a means of reconciling Arab tribes and the Barbar Amazigh people, who were in conflict at that time.
These origins are reflected in the named Siyahet, which means the "fusion of souls", as well as in the alternative name "Al-Salam" (peace).
The peace-making theme is reflected also in the Sufi prayers that are held throughout the three-day event.
Sufi leaders prayers, and then oasis matters are discussed by elders, while food is served in the prayer tents.
Sheikh al-Demeiry, head of the Shazleya al-Madaneya Sufi order, said the festival attracts some tourism, but not in the normal way. The religious content of the festival provides for what he called "tourism of spirit and asceticism".
Men and male children attend the event each day, starting at 8 a.m. Around noon, calves are slaughtered and presented to chefs for cooking, to be served with fatteh. Women do not participate in the festival, but stay at home preparing bread for the fatteh.
Meals are served again after the asr prayers, after which the uncooked joints of meat are auctioned off.
In the evening, participants gather in rings to recite Sufi prayers that continue throughout the night.
The celebration aims to spread peace and love, said Sheikh Salah Zafer of the Shazleya al-Madaneya order.
Everybody donates food and money for the event and people who do not know each other, including elders and children, sit beside each other in a kind of asceticism and friendliness, he said.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
