The Pyramids as a Stage: How Egypt Is Using Music Tourism to Rebuild Its Live Industry

Egyptian promoter Venture Lifestyle, together with its electronic music brand P+US, wrapped the Starlight Festival at the Pyramids of Giza on October 11. The four-day event — one stop on the EXIT festival franchise's world tour — drew roughly 20,000 people a day across five stages, with a lineup including Charlotte de Witte, Michael Bibi, Adriatique, Vintage Culture and Pete Tong. Afterward, Venture founder and CEO Rabih Mokbel spoke to IQ about how the company is using international audiences to rebuild Egypt's live events industry.

Starlight and an overseas-first ticketing strategy

Venture Lifestyle and P+US have previously staged shows at the roughly 4,600-year-old site for Anyma, Metro Boomin, DJ Carl Cox and Maroon 5. Describing Starlight's scale, Mokbel said: