Tonight at the El-Manestirly Palace overlooking the El-Roda Nile Corniche, UNESCO will celebrate the Egyptian winner of "The Photo and Story" contest held in 2015 as part of the global #Unite4Heritage campaign.

Ahmed Ebeid, general supervisor of the minister of antiquities’ office, told Ahram Online that the competition, which attracted more than 10,000 entries from all over the world, involved participants posting on social media their most inspiring photos of cultural heritage and explain why they matter to them.

The entries were narrowed down to the top 20, Ebeid said, and from there the winner was selected. The winning photo, captured by Egyptian photographer Mohamed Abdel-Gawad, shows traditional moulid dancing in Egypt.

The photo shows a woman dancing at El-Sayeda Fatimah El-Nabawiya’s moulid in Cairo’s El-Batiniya to a song by one of the local bands. Women frequently dance and sing during moulids.

Moulid celebrations involve rituals dating back to ancient Egypt, such as receiving the blessings of awliya, henna and lighting candles.

They are also an important place for Egyptians from urban and rural areas and of different sects and ages to gather, dance, celebrate and listen to chants and prayers.

The ceremony will be attended by Minister of Antiquities Khaled El-Enany and Egypt's UNESCO candidate Moushira Khatab as well as top governmental officials.

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