Just one night ahead of Moulid el-Nabi (the celebration of Prophet Muhammad’s birth), a famous hub that gathers most of the old sweets factories, Bein el-Harat street, located near Ramsis Sqaure, saw long queues of Egyptians waiting excitedly for their annual treat of the Moulid sweets. Decorated in colorful lights, the joyful atmosphere of the Moulid festivities were hard to miss while the street welcomed an influx of traders from all over the country who annually arrive at Bein el-Harat to purchase the traditional Moulid el-Nabi sweets, commonly known as Halawet el-Moulid. This year, celebrating the birth of both Prophets Mohammed and Jesus happens to stand only a couple of days apart, with Muslims celebrating Moulid el-Nabi on December 23, and Catholic Christians celebrating Christmas on December 25. “We eagerly wait for Moulid el-Nabi to come around from year to year,” says Hussein el-Sayed, 28, one of the busy youths rushing to assist the many customers awaiting their boxes of sweets. Considered as one of the most bustling seasonal highs for confectioneries across Egypt, Moulid el-Nabi generates a flux of youth who head from their villages to the cities famous for making el-Moulid sweets, hoping to earn some…
