Who’s tired of cocktails and parties? Okay, no one. But if you want to throw something new into the mix, check out the below suggestions for things to do in May.

Midad Exhibition
Dar el Nimer, Hamra
Midad refers to the carbon inks that are made of the soot of burnt natural ingredients. The exhibition itself addresses the history of Arabic calligraphy, walking you through the history and uses of the artform. It runs till October 2017 with talks and workshops until July. The development of the script and how it progressed through time is truly fascinating.

Stargazing with BeirutVersus
Various locations
Khalil Azar of BeirutVersus has been organizing trips up to mountaintops for quite some time now. It all started when he joined some Brazilians on a night photography session in Dora. Next thing you know, he’s diving deep into astrophotography and teaching peeps about Polaris, bolides, and the many constellations around us. Not sure if there’s any upcoming gazing for the rest of May but keep an eye on their page either way.

Layers of a Ghost City – Downtown Beirut Walking Tour
Starts & ends at St. Georges Hotel
Marc wants to stay under the radar so I’m limiting this to a paragraph. The new walking tour on the block, Marc leads groups on Saturday afternoons through Downtown Beirut. He does a superb job putting the old & recent history in context and giving you both sides to the controversial Solidere project. You don’t need to be a foreigner to learn a little bit about the city. It’s 3.5 hours long and Marc’s spending a semester in Berlin over the summer so join the next one while you can.

Off-the-Ground: Design Hackathon for Social Impact
Antwork, Hamra
Part of Beirut’s 6th Design Week running from the 19th-26th under the theme Is Design a Need?, this 2-day hackathon is bringing 30 designers together with organizations to address 5 social issues weighing down on the city. Read more about it here. If you’re more about activism, besides Design Week, there’s also Heritage Watch Day with a focus on Dalieh and Honeine Palace.

And if none of those do it for you, go grab a new book at Oliver’s Kitchen & Coffee Shop in Gemmayzeh. I recommend their Middle East section, melanzane, and lemonade.