Depending on the Islamic calendar, your visit might coincide with a moulid , which could be a local affair attended by a few thousand people, or a huge carnival attracting half a million fellaheen from Upper Egypt. Most of them happen during the two months of the Muslim calendar preceding Ramadan; locals can rarely tell you the exact date, but always know when one is due. Foreigners are welcome to attend; just beware of pickpockets.

The largest and most famous is the Moulid of Abu el-Haggag (pronounced "Hajjaj"), honouring Luxor's patron sheikh, whose mosque overlooks the temple. Yussef Abu el-Haggag (Father of the Pilgrimage) was born in Damascus (c.1150), moved to Mecca in his forties and finally settled in Egypt, where he founded a zawiyah in Luxor and met with other Sufi sheikhs such as Al-Mursi and Al-Shazli. Many of his descendants still live in the area, and the tradition of venerating local sheikhs is strong in villages around Luxor. During the festival, giant floats move through the densely packed streets, some dedicated to trades (the caleche drivers' bears a carriage), others to the sheikh himself. The parading of a large boat (or even three boats) is often compared to the solar barque processions of pharaonic times, though in Islamic symbolism boats represent the quest for spiritual enlightenment. Vast crowds attend the zikrs outside Abu el-Haggag's Mosque, and revel in traditional entertainments. There are stick fights ( tahtib) to the music of drums and mizmars (a kind of oboe), and horse races ( mirmah) where the riders gallop hell for leather, halting in a flurry of dust just before they plough into the crowd. Booze and bango are consumed quite openly. The festival occurs two weeks before the start of Ramadan, and lasts for two days. During Ramadan itself, townsfolk compensate for its daytime rigours by gathering to hear zikrs and dance outside Abu el-Haggag's Mosque in the evenings.

Sheikh Ali Musa of Karnak was actually born in another village, and when he died the villagers demanded that his body be buried there instead. The Karnakis said, "Let the Sheikh decide", so his coffin was borne to the crossroads, whereupon it turned to face Karnak and was taken back in triumph. His moulid lasts a week, its leyla kebir (Big Night) falling on the 6th of Rageb. You can't miss the music, swings and lights around his tomb, near the entrance to Karnak village.

About the same time, on the other side of town, Awmia village honours its own Sheikh Ahmed al-Adasi with a week-long festival, whose curtain raiser is a day of stick fights, horse and camel races on a nearby wasteground. For the moulid itself, Awmia's main street is enclosed by a tent, where munshids sing at ear-splitting volume; further in are fairground rides and a tent of Sufis in a zikr. Following the leyla kebir on the 14th of Rageb, there's a final day of celebrations called Ed-Dara, when camels and horses are paraded through the streets and villagers throw candies at each other. Al-Adasi is known for appearing in the dreams of Egyptians working in Italy and Morocco.

Yet another moulid occurs in Old Qurna, across the Nile