CAIRO — Despite high prices in all walks of life and the collapse of the local currency, Egyptians still cling to the adornment of Ramadan, which they consider part of the joy of the holy month, whatever the circumstances.

As the holy month approaches, shops are bustling with grooming. The Ataba area, in downtown Cairo, has been turned into an open exhibition of everything related to the month of fasting.

Um Hamza says to Al Jazeera Net that she is keen annually to buy decorations from downtown because they are diverse and less expensive compared to other places, adding that this year specifically requires an effort to provide Ramadan requirements due to high prices.

Egyptians are keen to buy decorations from downtown Cairo because they are varied and less expensive compared to other places (Al-Jazeera)

Demand for certain types

Over the past few days, thousands of Egyptians flocked to ornamental shops, and the demand for locally made plastic, paper and cloth was high because they are low-cost, while the lantern market declined significantly due to the doubling of their prices.

Um Hamza and her husband say they have budgeted around 500 pounds (about $16) to buy decorations this year, which means lanterns are completely excluded from them.

"Years ago, I used to buy decorations from Ataba because they increase the joy of the house and spread the spirit of the holy month, and increase the joy of children, but we abandoned lanterns this year and were satisfied with paper, cloth and plastic decorations, because we can buy a lot of them within the specified amount," she added.

Special games for children within the decorations of the Ramadan echoing Ramadan songs and increasing their joy in the month of fasting (Al Jazeera)

Ornamental ropes cost between 5LE and LE15 (a dollar is about 30 pounds), while lighting ropes range from 30 pounds to 150 pounds, a slight increase compared to last year and therefore affordable, says Um Hamza.

According to Mahmoud, a vendor in a decoration shop, there is a variation in the prices of lighting ropes according to the length and number, type and variety of lamps, starting from 5LE and up to 50LE, while the prices of copper ropes range between 30LE and 80LE, and the prices of triangle ropes between 5LE and 15LE.

The prices of Ramadan pillowcases range from EGP 30 to EGP 100, while tent cloth ranges between EGP 100 and EGP 400, and table linens cost between EGP 50 and EGP 300, all of which have seen increases ranging from 50 to 100%, depending on the type.

Prices of imported lanterns increased between 60% to 100% from Ramadan last year (Al Jazeera)

Significant increase in lanterns

As for lanterns, imported prices have increased between 60% and 100% from last year, prompting many to buy wooden lanterns made of beads, according to Khaled, a vendor in a decorative shop.

Khaled adds to Al Jazeera Net, "Due to the high prices, the demand has become great for wooden lanterns and made of beads, whose price starts from 30 pounds and reaches 100 pounds," noting that some local lanterns range between 80 and 120 pounds due to the presence of an imported audio player.

Bedspreads, fabrics and lighting ropes used in Ramadan decorations (Al Jazeera)

"Abu al-Dhahab," the owner of a decoration and lantern shop, tells Al Jazeera Net that the price of the lantern starts from 10 pounds and reaches 100 pounds, pointing out that the local lantern did not rise much because its raw materials are Egyptian and not imported. As for the Chinese lantern, it starts from 50 pounds and goes up to 300 pounds.

As for the huge lanterns made of iron, their price ranges between 650 pounds and 3 thousand pounds. But the demand for them is very low, this year, except for the owners of cafes and hotels and residents of very high-end areas, says Abu al-Dhahab.

As for decorations, Abu al-Dhahab says that the price of the Chinese lighting rope starts from 40 pounds and reaches 200 pounds, according to the length of the rope, pointing out that there are homemade laser lamps ranging from 25 to 150 pounds, explaining that they are witnessing a great demand because they are cheaper than imported ones, whose price reaches 350 pounds.

The high prices and hardship of living suffered by Egyptians prompted many this year to use last year's decorations (Al Jazeera)

However, there are those who deliberately manufacture decorations manually, to save expenses, such as um Essam, who tells Al Jazeera Net that decorations are more important than other things, such as yamish (dried fruits and nuts), explaining that she bought cloth, plastic, paper, lamps and electricity wires and will make decorations manually "because children do not accept the passage of Ramadan without the presence of decorations," as she put it.

She pointed out that the high prices and the hardship of living suffered by Egyptians prompted many this year to use last year's decorations, which they kept because they were not cheap compared to previous years, especially large lanterns that are hung in the halls of homes or balconies.