Egyptian artists, like creative people everywhere, are coming up with new ways to present their art and reach audiences amid the shutdown of cinemas, theaters, concert halls and festival venues in the effort to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus. Ever-growing numbers of artists are turning to the internet to broadcast their performances, concerts and other events to reach people at home.

Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly suspended live performances on March 17 until further notice. Three days later, Massar Egbari (Compulsory Detour), an alternative band whose satirical songs focus on social issues, performed on its YouTube channel and its Facebook page.

“The concert was completely free for the public, to compensate for postponing the band's concerts indefinitely,” Omar Sami, the band's manager, told local media. He added that the band preferred to upload to online platforms to avoid financially burdening the public, for instance, having to pay subscription fees. Meanwhile, the vocalist Tamer Ashour tweeted that he will be performing via YouTube on March 26 to encourage people to stay at home but still have some fun. 

Film festivals, which were suspended in a March 12 ban on large gatherings, have also moved online. The Visions Cairo Egyptian Short Film Festival opted to present films via the festival’s Facebook page on a schedule to be announced March 27. Festival director Malek Khourya posted that organizers did not want to cancel the festival and therefore aimed to create a cultural environment where more people could access films without unaffordable entrance fees and show films on a larger scale, for anyone interested in cinema.