Cairo Celebrates Eid al-Fitr Following Two-Year Coronavirus Ban

Liquor stores reopen their doors after being closed for Ramadan, downtown Cairo, May 1, 2022. (Hamada Elrasam/VOA)

Bars usually reopen on the last night of Ramadan, but were instead allowed to welcome back customers on the first day of Eid al-Fitr this year, leaving friends to gather at home, downtown Cairo, May 1, 2022. (Hamada Elrasam/VOA)

Egypt’s Ministry of Religious Endowments has permitted 600 open-air spaces at mosques countrywide to host large-scale Eid Al-Fitr prayers, ending a two-year ban due to the coronavirus pandemic. In Cairo's Al-Sultan Hassan Mosque on May 2, 2022. (Hamada El

After Eid al-Fitr prayers, a man blissfully scatters banknotes of five Egyptian pounds on worshippers from his office window, Islamic Cairo, May 2, 2022. (Hamada Elrasam/VOA)

Cairo’s Giza Zoo welcomed visitors on the Eid Al-Fitr feast for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, on May 2, 2022. (Hamada Elrasam/VOA)

Visitors to the Giza Zoo, who mainly hail from villages on the outskirts of Cairo, enjoy their time in this popular green-space retreat during religious holidays, on May 2, 2022. (Hamada Elrasam/VOA)

Celebrating the Eid Al-Fitr tradition of buying new clothes, young men choose similar outfits to express deep bonds and friendship, Giza, May 2, 2022. (Hamada Elrasam/VOA)

Young visitors ride bumper cars at the amusement park inside the Giza Zoo on May 2, 2022. (Hamada Elrasam/VOA)

Visitors admire some of the zoo's new residents. Dr. General Mohamed Ragae, head of the Giza Zoo, says the facility recently acquired a brown bear, camels, and an array of reptiles and other animals, Giza, May 2, 2022. (Hamada Elrasam/VOA)

Families gather for a daytime meal after fasting during the holy month of Ramadan, Giza, May 2, 2022. (Hamada Elrasam/VOA)