NORTH The charm of the American West is coming to the Golan Heights, with the celebration of the fifth annual Country Festival taking place on August 3. The folk festivities – held in cooperation with John Deere and Goldstar Beer at the Waset Tourist Center – will include live music performances, line dances and fine dining straight from the grill. The live performance lineup includes spur-clinking country music bands Mottis and Lee & Geel. The atmosphere of barnyard fun will be enhanced by vendors at the festival grounds selling professional horseback riding gear alongside giant projector screens featuring rodeo performances. The events is organized by Golan Tours, the Golan Regional Council, K Bar, the Waset Tourist Center, John Deere and Goldstar Beer. Country Festival, Waset Center, Golan Heights, 7:30 p.m. until dawn, entrance is free. Dance festival coming to Karmiel The 30th annual Karmiel Dance Festival is taking to the stage for three days and nights starting August 8. Some 10,000 dancers from Israel and abroad are due to take part in some 100 captivating performances. The festival is due to feature elements of modern dance, ballet, folk and contemporary dance. Tens of thousands of attendees are expected at what is hailed as “Israel's largest dance celebration.” According to its organizers, the Karmiel Dance Festival “has a long-standing policy of opening the door to all varieties of dancing and providing a stage for dance troupes from Israel and around the world to show their capability, innovation and creativity in motion, music and style.” Entrance to the event is free. Performances will take place in venues throughout the city. For a full program and more details about the festival, visit www.karmielfestival.co.il/en/. CENTER Buddhist cinema to enlighten Tel Aviv For those seeking an enlightening experience in Tel Aviv, look no further than the upcoming Weekend of Buddhist Cinema taking at the city's cinematheque. The event taking place July 28 and 29 will feature 10 films that address Buddhist tradition and cinema inspired by the faith. The films set to be featured include On Mediation, The Tibetan Book of the Dead, Neten Chokling, Crazy Wisdom, Hermits, Happiness, Golden Kingdom, When the Iron Bird Flies, The Drummer and The Zen Mind. The weekend of awakening also includes lectures by top Buddhism experts in Israel, such as Dr. Steven Pollard, Nachi Alon, Prof. Yaakov Raz, Dr. Naomi Oshri, Ayelet Idelberg and Dr. Eitan Bolokan. Festival organizers say the weekend of Buddhist cinema seeks to “adopt the principles of mindfulness and compassion through a special combination of inspirational films, lectures on ancient and modern wisdom and meditation, including a rich program of films celebrating the different, compassionate, attentive and kind-hearted together with conversations and lectures that deepen the experience of viewing.” Tickets are available through the Tel Aviv Cinematheque: www.levtahor.co.il/buddhafilmweekend. More drinking fountains for Ramat Hasharon In an attempt to upgrade the quality of life for its residents, the Ramat Hasharon Municipality has launched a project to install and renew drinking fountains throughout the city. The municipality announced that in light of complaints, it was working to increase the number of drinking fountains available to the public and provide maintenance to those in poor condition as the scorching temperatures of the summer arrive. The municipality said the upgrade also includes water fountains that are accessible to children and pets. SOUTH Beersheba brings brain-bending spectacle to town The catchphrase “nothing is as it seems” will hold true as a troupe of five international artists presents its exhibition of optical illusions in Beersheba throughout the month of August. The Trick Art exhibition at the southern city's Conchiya Hall will explore the brain-bending concepts of perception and reality through optical illusions, 3D paintings, photographs and other activities. The event, co-hosted by Radio Darom will also feature dozens of large-scale, intricate 3D paintings, bringing to life the worlds of fairy tales, fantasy and adventure on the walls and floor of the venue. Trick Art, Conchiya Hall, Beersheba, August 2-31, runs daily from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Police bust Negev marijuana greenhouses The Israel Police has uncovered illicit activities taking place in four camouflaged greenhouses, in which hundreds of marijuana plants were found being cultivated. As part of operations to scour Israel's southern sector for illegal drug activity, authorities seized agricultural equipment, including irrigation and fertilization tools that are suspected of being stolen from nearby communities and kibbutzim. In addition to some 600 seedlings and irrigation and fertilization tanks, an improvised water reservoir was found near the greenhouses that was allegedly used to irrigate the cannabis plants. “We have found a connection between the greenhouses and the theft of agricultural equipment used by the criminals in the improvised greenhouses,” the commander of the operation said. “The economic damage to farmers caused by the theft of agricultural equipment is profound.”
(photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)