Nonstop ‘White Night’ party to take over Tel Aviv tonight

Workshops and activities for kids and families will take place in Kiryat Sefer Park.

By ELIYAHU KAMISHER
Tel Aviv White Night, 2015 (photo credit: MOSHIK LINDENBAUM/ TEL AVIV-YAFO MUNICIPALITY)
Tel Aviv White Night, 2015
(photo credit: MOSHIK LINDENBAUM/ TEL AVIV-YAFO MUNICIPALITY)
Thousands of party-goers are expected to take to the streets of Tel Aviv on Thursday for the annual all-night White Night festivities, which mark the city’s designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
While the event celebrates the 1920s-style Bauhaus architecture that has made Tel Aviv famous, it is also an expression of the city’s vibrant modern-day arts, culture and nightlife.
Highlights include art, acrobatics, and dance installations from seven European Union countries staged along Rothschild Boulevard from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m.
One installation, by artist David Verbeek from the Czech Republic, will feature laser beams used as instruments.
A circus theater will take over Bialik Square, the site of Tel Aviv’s first city hall, and feature live music, aerial acrobatics, a band and clowns.
A full list of the dozens of parties, concerts, and art instillations can be found on the municipality website.
Meanwhile, revelers will don headphones and tune in to the 102 FM radio app for a silent dance party at Rabin Square, and music performances will dot Jaffa.
Tel Aviv’s refurbished Old Train Station, known as Hatachana, will host a number of concerts, including Middle Eastern surf rock band Boom Pam and Bint El Funk, which combines Yemenite and funk music. Classic Israeli rock bands will take the stage at Givon Square.
Workshops and activities for kids and families will take place in Kiryat Sefer Park.
“On July 2003, UNESCO declared the White City of Tel Aviv – a delicate urban, historic and unique texture – as a cultural world legacy site,” the Tel Aviv Municipality said in a statement. “The center of the city holds the world’s largest architectural collection of buildings designed in the Bauhaus style. Since receiving the title, the city of Tel-Aviv-Jaffa celebrates the declaration each year in a series of White Night events which connects to the city’s DNA as a Nonstop City.”
Tel Aviv gained its UNESCO recognition for the over 4,000 mostly white buildings built in the Bauhaus architectural style.
The influential style of architecture was common in the 1920s and 1930s and was brought to Tel Aviv by Jewish architects fleeing Germany.
Israel Police said that it will not allow people to enter the festivities with animals, glass bottles, weapons, bicycles or any two-wheeled vehicles.
The municipality also created a phone app called SideKix to help users navigate events.