Tel Aviv is known as many things, including the “The White City,” the
“Manhattan of the Middle East” and “the city that never sleeps.”
While
Israel’s most vibrant city usually does a good job on a daily basis of
keeping true to its image of being a 24-hour city, once a year it goes
all out and puts on the mother of all parties that goes on through the
night until sunrise.
White Night, now in its 10th year, includes a
host of cultural events around the city that are either free or very
reasonably priced. With so much to choose from, it can be quite
overwhelming when deciding how to spend the night and morning.
While
the night promises to include a number of great cultural activities,
social justice activists have called on artists and club owners to
boycott the event in protest of police violence against demonstrators
last Saturday. Activists plan to hold protest marches through the
streets in a number of locations in the city while White Night is being
held.
Cancellations have included a night of concerts that was to
be held at the Ozen bar, a literary event that was to include Israeli
author Etgar Keret, and a concert by the Israeli band Girafot.
According to the Facebook page
Black Night – The White List,
which is compiling the names of artists agreeing to boycott, the list
of those who won’t be taking part in the festivities continues to grow.
As of Wednesday morning those boycotting White Night also included 12 art galleries and nine different fashion houses.
Despite these cancellations, many of the events being put on by the Municipality will be held as planned. Use this
list of events to help decide where to go and when.
Author and
fashion designer
Jean- Charles de Castelbajac has been invited by Beit
Ha’ir and the French Institute in Israel to open the White Night events
this year. Castelbajac will be in Israel as part of a world tour with
French band Nouvelle Vague, who will perform the innovative show “The
Dawn of Innocence” – a combination of musical, opera, pop, rock and
theater. The event starts at 9 p.m. at Beit Ha’ir, Bialik Square.
Entrance is free.
There
will be a number of free music performances throughout the night by
various artists. The events at
Jaffa Port will kick off at 7 p.m. with a
show on the northern deck, including Shmemel, Ramzailech and many
others. At 11 p.m. Rif Cohen and Halas will take to the stage for a
special jam session. The flea market in Jaffa will hold a special event
for the whole family, with a musical performances including a number of
different genres that will begin at 8 p.m. There will also be a number
of artistic and creative stalls, as well as street theater.
As
has become customary on White Night,
Hatzuk Beach will host an allnight
music show. Karolina will start the proceedings, and then music legend
Danny Sanderson will host Mazi Cohen, Maor Cohen and Alon Ularchick,
starting from 1:30 a.m.
Knesiat Hasechel will perform at
Gan
Hapisga with all their well-known hits. Daniel Solomon will open the
show, which will begin at 9 p.m.
If an old-fashioned sing-along
is more your thing, then check out the Shira Be’tzibur session at
Hatahana Complex near Neveh Tzedek. The Uzi Brothers and Hayim Anser
will host Ben Artzi and Dorit Reuveni for a performance starting at
10:30 p.m. From midnight until the earlier hours, Moshe Lahav will host a traditional sing-along session of Israeli songs.
If dancing is more your thing, then a huge Headphone Party will take place in
Rabin Square from 8 p.m. till 1 a.m. Headphones will be given to those who don’t have them.
For those looking to do a bit of all night exercise, starting from 9 p.m. there
will be Israeli Folk Dancing at
Gordon Beach under the instruction of
Sara Aviv. She will be accompanied by professional dance troupes at the
large dance square on the beach.
In the main plaza outside the
Cameri Theater and the Opera House, ballroom dance lovers can enjoy some
dancing from 8.30 p.m. until 11 p.m.
For those who want to brush
up on their Irish dancing skills, a dance workshop focusing on Irish
folk dancing will take place at the
Suzanne Dellal Center in Neveh
Tzedek between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m.
The
Israeli Opera
will host a celebratory concert starting at midnight and carrying on
until the early hours. The performance will feature more than three
hours of duets, ensembles, operettas and classic Israeli songs.
For
some great food and drink,
The Dancing Camel pubs invite you to enjoy
the festivities with some great deals, including a giant hot dog and
beer for NIS 35 instead of NIS 52. At 2 a.m. both pubs will
simultaneously hold a “fastest hot dog eating” competition. The
competition costs NIS 10 to enter. The winner will receive a coupon for
10 free beers worth NIS 270 that can be used at either pub. The pubs are
open all night, until the last customer.
Dancing
Camel, 12 Hata’asiya; and 10 Vital, Florentine. For more information:
(03) 624-2783
On a more cultural note,
Gan Ya’acov next to
Habimah
Square will host a performance of David Avidan poems. Starting
from 8.45 p.m., students from the school Muzik will present 13 of the
author’s poems.
For
art lovers, the preparatory program at the Design and Architecture
School –
Studio 6B will host a graduates’ exhibition and celebrate with a
huge street party that includes a DJ, a live performance by the band
Hashovavim, alcoholic beverages and other surprises. The festivities
will begin at 9 p.m. and for the whole night the studio’s building will
transformed into a huge exhibition space, where the final projects of
the graduates will be displayed.
The exhibition presents the
works of 60 graduates in six categories: graphic design, industrial
design, architecture, interior design, animation and photography. The
winner in each category will receive a prize of NIS 1,000.
Forty
years after closure of the renowned
Eden Cinema, the projectors of the
abandoned building will be put to use for one night as part of the White
Night celebrations. A special exhibition will be devoted almost
entirely to video art by contemporary Israeli artists, who deal with the
issues of separation. The works will be screened inside and in the
cinema’s main building under the open sky. The event will begin at
sunset and will end when the sun rises.
White Night or Black Night - how will you be celebrating?There are also a number of events being planned by activists as an alternative to White Night, including two in the city’s South side.
One event, “A Night of Black Culture in Neve Shannan,” will be held at the corner of Matalon and Tchelnov Streets at 6 p.m. and include a meeting of residents of south Tel Aviv and members of the African migrant community.
There will also be a photo exhibit by the photographers’ collective “Activestills” taken at protests in south Tel Aviv over the past year, and a “black street party.”
South Tel Aviv will also host a “protest party” in the Shapira neighborhood.
Ben Hartman contributed to this report