LEBANON: Beirut nightlife again starts to sizzle

Beirut will be back on the world map and, this time, it will be for good reasons. That was the message behind the relaunching party of Time Out magazine’s Beirut edition, after a two-year hiatus, at the Riviera Beach Lounge along the capital's seafront.

With fireworks and champagne bottles in sparkling boxes, the party was designed to mirror the reemerging face of Beirut: a city of glitz and glamour boasting many trendy open-air rooftop nightspots, underground nightclubs and funky bars.

As the publisher of Time Out Beirut, Nehme Abouzeid, pointed out in the magazine’s July/August edition, tourists and Lebanese rushed back to Lebanon immediately after a political agreement between squabbling factions was reached and civil war was averted:

Sometimes we tend to forget that our story is that of the phoenix, rising after every fire. The Lebanese have always been optimistic and our faith in this fantastic country has never been stronger.

The magazine, which chronicles the cultural and musical events of the buzzing city as well as reviewing its restaurants and clubs, thrives on stability. So after a short, zealous start, Time Out stopped publishing because of the July 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel.

And it was only after the country regained some sort of normalcy that the magazine, which publishes editions for New York and London as well as other towns, decided to return to cover the flourishing arts and entertainment scenes.

This summer, Time Out takes a look at street theater performances, welcomes back the stand-up comedians of The Axis of Evil, and chats with Mika ahead of his mega-concert this weekend in downtown Beirut.

- Raed Rafei in Beirut.

Photos: Time Out Beirut relaunch party at the Riviera Beach Lounge.

Credit: Raed Rafei/ Los Angeles Times (two in the middle), Time Out Beirut (top and bottom).

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Comments

[assaad]

Jacob,

you're one of those struck with the pompous belief in expressing their views in a newspaper, except that this time your words utter nothing but sad and cliche sound bites which you've probably read in the Jerusalem Post or somewhere else. I suggest you leave the comment section to people with a little more intelligence and go learn about the Lebanese people. this way you can ensure next time that you're not wasting space on the web.

[FREEDOM]

Hello Jacob....

regarding yr comments on SAMIR QANTAR...what exactly do you state about the HUNDREDS of lebanese children whose bodies were CRUSHED in the Internationally NOW NOTED illegal and totally INSANE war against Lebanon in JULY 2006 .....????? Or the newly thousands of Lebanese ORPHANED kids who lost their parents.....

Or perhaps we should mention the HUNDREDs of THOUSANDS of Lebanese kids who lost the HOME as well........who still sleep in shelters......

Nobody should weep over a child....I agree on this...but if you put this into perspective a bit...you might start to realize how ridiculous your statement might sound....

Children are INNOCENT and their loss of LIFE is our LOSS for everyones future....... let us hope that BOTH COUNTRIES can remember this......

Isreals soldiers were celebrated when they came home as well.....do you not find this a BIT crude and OUTRAGEOUS after all the DEATH & DESTRUCTION when they PUNISHED an ENTIRE COUNTRY for a group of fews actions......we too can look at ISREAL and say the same thing...with REASON.....

Please think well before pointing fingers........................

[Bill]

Jacob or "Yacov" Go and winge and cry elsewhere, and yes these people will dance the night away with Samir

[Ahmad Wehbe]

Dear Jacob,

U appear to nothing but a fanatic racial profiler who likes to paint all Lebanese with kuntar color. I am not a fan of murderers, especially jewish ones. The jews have done their fair share of killing innocent civilians over the years. Instead of facing Syria, the source of all problems, jews flex their might against 2 bit-lebanon. Cowards. Few people like Kuntar. Israel is filled with kuntar type blood thirsty settlers scavenging for free homes, land, and killing palestinians daily. Go Attack Iran Mr. big shot, quit monkeying around with hizbollah. The Lebanese are proud people with fixed territorial boundaries. Israel is still expanding at the expense of innocent civilians every day. Murderers and land grab thieves are in no position to lecture about integrity. Enjoy your free home, compliments of US tax dollars and US weapons. Without them, you're nothing but an unarmed Kuntar.

[Jacob]

Tell me, is Samir Kuntar dancing at the clubs? Is he welcome as a hero to the the "fashionable" people of Beruit?! No matter how they dress it up these same people exalted a child murderer. Hope they think a bit about that as they are dancing the night away.