Sun Festival February 2027

What happened at the Abu Simbel sun alignment on 22 October 2026?

At dawn on Thursday 22 October 2026, sunlight reached the inner sanctuary and lit the statues of Ramesses II, Amun-Ra and Ra-Horakhty for about 20 minutes, the Associated Press reported.

According to the AP, hundreds of tourists and locals were there, some had slept outside the temple overnight, and costumed performers danced in front of the facade to tabla drums and the mizmar, a traditional horn. Inside, visitors pressed together in near darkness in front of the statues to watch the beam arrive. The National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics puts the beam's path at about 60 m into the rock.

The fourth statue in the row, Ptah, is traditionally said to stay in shadow, fitting for a god linked to the underworld. The two dates are traditionally linked to Ramesses II's birthday and coronation, though there is no direct evidence for it. The AP also notes that engineers kept the alignment when the temple was cut up and moved uphill in the 1960s, away from the rising water of Lake Nasser.

When is the next Abu Simbel sun festival?

Monday 22 February 2027. After that, Friday 22 October 2027. The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities fixes both the event and the special ticket on those two dates.

The dates are fixed: 22 February and 22 October, as the Ministry's price list and its ticket portal both show. The days either side show a partial effect, according to several travel reports, and they come without the festival crowd and at the standard price. If you want the full show with the drums and the queue, the 22nd is the day.

How much is the Abu Simbel ticket on 22 February 2027?

EGP 1,272 for a foreign adult and EGP 670.5 for a student, on the Ministry's official ticket portal in 2026. On every other day it is EGP 822 and EGP 445.5.

The higher price is the sun alignment ticket, listed on the portal as valid on 22 February and 22 October. Children under 6 go free. Students must be 24 or younger and show a valid ID. The ticket office takes bank cards, not cash, so bring a card and keep some small Egyptian pounds for tips.

Booked a tour with the entry ticket included? Ask the operator, through your GetYourGuide booking, whether that covers the sun-day price. Prices are set by the Ministry and can change, so check the portal again in January. Our ticket prices post has the full 2026 list.

How crowded is the Abu Simbel sun festival?

Very. The AP counted hundreds of tourists and locals in October 2026; Ahram Online, as cited by other outlets, put the crowd in the thousands. Either way, the sanctuary holds a small fraction of them at once.

Earlier alignments drew large crowds too: Egypt Independent reported about 6,000 visitors in February 2022, and Egypt Telegraph about 4,000 in October 2025. Security is heavier than on a normal day. In 2022 Egypt Independent described surveillance cameras, electronic gates, X-ray machines and golf carts from the gates for older visitors.

Expect a long wait in the dark and a short, packed moment inside. Reports from October 2026 mention a large screen outside so people who cannot get in still see the light on the statues. Patience matters more than position. Appera, on the day trip from Aswan in Oct 2026: "We arrived in Sun festival and able to see the full experience, that’s what counts."

How do you get to Abu Simbel before dawn on 22 February 2027?

Sleep in Abu Simbel on the night of 21 February. The temple is about 280 to 300 km from Aswan, about 3.5 hours by road, and the light arrives shortly after sunrise.

• Stay the night before. Abu Simbel has a small number of hotels and Nubian guesthouses, such as the Seti Abu Simbel Lake Resort and the Eskaleh Nubian Ecolodge. Rooms fill for alignment dates, so book months ahead. Plan to walk up in the dark, around 4am to 5am.
• Take the two-day tour. The 2-day private tour from Aswan drives you down on day one, includes the temple visit, a felucca ride and a night in an Abu Simbel hotel, and leaves for Aswan around 9am on day two. Start it on 21 February and the dawn of the 22nd falls on your free morning. Its entrance fee covers the guided visit on day one; for the dawn of the 22nd, buy a sun alignment ticket on the portal and tell the operator your plan when you book.
• Fly in the day before. EgyptAir flights from Aswan land in the late morning on the schedules flight trackers showed in late 2026, too late for the dawn itself. Fly on the 21st and sleep over.
• A day trip on the day. Tourist vehicles on the desert road travel in daylight, and UK travel advice says not to drive outside cities and resorts at night. Some guests on day trips from Aswan do see the alignment; confirm the pickup time with the operator before you count on it.

Two private days from Aswan: the temples with a guide on day one, a felucca on the lake, dinner, a night in Abu Simbel and the drive back the next morning.

★ 4.8 · 2 days · from $300

Explore the 2-day tour with a night in Abu Simbel → Tour details

What should you bring on a February alignment morning?

Warm layers, a bank card, your passport and a small torch. February nights in the desert are cold, and you will stand outside for hours before the sun is up.

Aswan's average February low is about 12 C, and the wait starts in the dark. By midday Abu Simbel's February average climbs to about 26 C, so dress in layers you can peel off. There is little shade around the temples, and you will want water and a hat once the sun is high.

Phone photos are free; flash is not allowed, and it would spoil the moment for everyone else anyway. Keep your ticket on you at all times, as the portal asks. After the light fades, the site stays open as normal until 5pm (last entry 4pm), so there is time for the Temple of Hathor and Nefertari once the crowd thins. Our Sun Festival guide explains the alignment itself in more depth.

Frequently asked questions