Fagnoon art center

Fagnoon is one of the rare places in Cairo where both parents and children can take a break and spend a few unforgettable hours away from the city’s loud noise and pollution.

Fagnoon lies in farmlands, where local farmers grow food using ancient techniques and tools. In the background, The Golden Desert starts, decorated with the small, but important, Pyramids of the Ancient Pharaohs.

The word Fagnoon itself is a combination of two interesting words: Fonoon (art) and Gonoon (wild). It is a place for families to play, run, dance, paint, draw, as well as try out a bouquet of crafts including pottery, wood carpentry, agriculture, baking, jewellery making, ironmonger, and much more.

Over the past few years, Fagnoon has become one of Egypt’s most popular destinations for the young and old, Egyptian and Non-Egyptian. It has become a place where one can freely express themselves and develop both artistic and creative talents.

Fagnoon was founded by Mohamed Allam, an artist who had a vision of creating an ideal society where there is freedom of expression, respect for the environment, and respect for one another. He believes that providing a place of freethinking for children without constraints is a very healthy approach to discovering their talents and creativity.

Children are given the freedom to choose what they want to do from the workshops available at Fagnoon. They can paint on walls, play with clay, or enjoy the freedom of the vast playgrounds giving them the chance to mess around without getting into trouble, plus ride on the back of a horse, a donkey or sometimes a camel.

Families are allowed to bring their own food and drink for a picnic, because there are no restaurants, but they can buy Feteer (pancakes) with honey or cheese to eat at the facility. Parents can also try bread-making in a traditional brick oven and then enjoy their freshly baked bread.

Allam chose the staff working at Fagnoon carefully. Each staff member must be friendly, talented and helpful as well as being experts on dealing with children. Although visitors have freedom to do as they wish, if they need help they can ask the supervisors for assistance at any time.