Abu Simbel Sun Festival: 22 February and 22 October
What happens at the Abu Simbel sun festival, when it takes place, and how to get there from Aswan in time for sunrise.
Twice a year, on 22 February and 22 October, the rising sun shines through the entrance of the Great Temple of Abu Simbel and lights up the statues at the back of the sanctuary for about 20 minutes. Three of the four statues are lit; Ptah, a god linked to the underworld, stays in shadow. To see it you leave Aswan in the middle of the night.
What you see
The sanctuary, about 60 metres inside the mountain, holds four seated statues: Ra-Horakhty, the deified Ramses II, Amun-Ra and Ptah. At sunrise a beam of light travels down the halls and falls on them, leaving Ptah in the dark. Outside, the morning turns into a celebration with music and dancing.
Why these dates
The temple was cut into the rock around 3,200 years ago. In the 1960s it was moved, block by block, to higher ground to save it from the waters of Lake Nasser behind the High Dam. The alignment survived the move, and the dates are now 22 February and 22 October.
Getting there from Aswan
Abu Simbel is about 280 km south of Aswan, roughly three and a half hours by road. On festival days you need to leave around 2 am to be in the queue before sunrise. Thousands of people come, and only a limited number can enter the sanctuary at a time, so expect crowds and waiting.
A calmer option is to sleep in Abu Simbel the night before. On any other day, the light still enters the temple, just not as far as the statues.
