in Egypt Religious music remains an essential part of traditional Sufi Muslim and Coptic Christian celebrations called mulids. Mulids are held in Egypt to celebrate the saint of a particular church or an exalted local Muslim figure. Muslim mulids are related to the Sufi zikr ritual. The Egyptian flute, called the ney, is commonly played at mulids. The liturgical music of the Alexandrian Rite also constitutes an important element of Egyptian music and is said to have preserved many features of ancient Egyptian music. Folkloric music Egyptian folk music, including the traditional Sufi dhikr rituals in Egypt, are the closest contemporary music genre to ancient Egyptian music, having preserved many of its features, rhythms, and instruments. Folk and roots revival The 20th century has seen Cairo become associated with a roots revival. Musicians from across Egypt are keeping folk traditions alive, such as those of rural Egyptians (fellahin), the Saii'da, and to a lesser extent minorities like the Siwa people, the Egyptian Romani, the Sinawis and the Nubians. Mixtures of folk and pop have also risen from the Cairo hit factory. Since the Nasser era, Egyptian pop music has become increasingly important in Egyptian culture, particularly among the large youth population of Egypt. Egyptian folk music continues to be played during weddings and other traditional festivities. In the last quarter of the 20th century, Egyptian music was a way to communicate social and class issues. Among some of the most popular Egyptian pop singers today are Sherine Abdel-Wahab, Mohamed Mounir, and Amr Diab. Sawahli (coastal) music is a type of popular Egyptian music from the country's northern coast, and is based around ancient Egyptian instrumentals, mainly the simsimiyya, which is an indigenous Egyptian stringed instrument that has its roots in ancient Egypt, it---the simsimiyya---was probably introduced to the country's northern coast from the Nile valley in the 19th century by Egyptian workers in the Suez Canal. Well known Egyptian bands that feature the simsimiyya as a main instrument include el-Tanboura, which uses other ancient Egyptian instruments. Saidi (Upper Egyptian) Egyptian musicians from Upper Egypt play a form of folk music called Ṣa‘īdi which originates from Upper Egypt. Metqal Qenawi's Les Musiciens du Nil (Musicians of the Nile; who became known to Alain Weber in 1975), are the most popular Sa‘īdi group, and were chosen by the government to represent Egyptian folk music abroad. They spent over three decades touring Europe