Music in the moonlight: Desert concert festival near Eilat
A round up of news from around the country.
By COMPILEDJULIE STEIGERWALDIsrotel Phaza Morgana Festival(photo credit: ISROTEL)SOUTHUnder the glowing moonlight and surrounded by the red-rock formations in the Timna Valley near Eilat, a handful of musicians are enchanting audiences in the three-day Isrotel Phaza Morgana desert extravaganza.Gates opened on Thursday evening with the popular band Mashina taking the stage alongside singer-songwriter Yehudit Ravitz to rock the majestic landscapes between the sandstone cliffs and the striking Solomon’s Pillars formation at Timna Park, about 30 km.north of Eilat.The festival continues today with classical melodies paving the way to a grand rock ’n’ roll finish. Renowned conductor Gil Shohat is scheduled to put on a soloist piano performance at 8 p.m. before he leads a concert featuring seven pianists on a single stage at 9:30. The evening will conclude with a concert by electro-pop band Limousina Express kicking off at 11.The festival will come to a close on Saturday with beloved folk rocker Shlomo Artzi’s grand finale performance starting at 9 p.m.Gates open each day at 7:30 p.m. and a 10 percent discount is available for tickets purchased ahead of time. For ticket sales: https://www.isrotel.co.il/eventssale/ phazamorgana/main/ or call (08) 638-7797.Tasting art, seeing art: Beersheba’s fusion gallery walkArtists and chefs will join forces in Beersheba on September 22 for an evening of gallery tours fused with foods tastings at various studios in the Negev capital’s Old City.As part of the event organized by the “First Friday of the Month” initiative that holds cultural events, local chefs will cook up masterpieces inspired by the artists and the galleries in which they are hosted.The evening’s organizers are encouraging the public to enjoy the combination of visual arts and culinary skills as they wander through the studios.The participating chefs, all from Beersheba, will prepare small dishes that the public can purchase for NIS 2 to NIS 25 at the various venues.The event will feature artists from diverse fields, including photography, painting, sculpture, glass work and ceramics, who have participated in previous artistic open houses on the first Friday of past months as part of the similarly named initiative run by the coordinators of the September 22 event.The event will run from 7 to 11 p.m.and entrance to all participating venues is free. Organizers will present the first 100 people to sign up with gifts on the night of the event. NORTH Run 10-80 kilometers in Haifa night racesHaifa is gearing up to host runners for the city’s “Ultra Trail” night run that offers various race events taking participants from the city’s Mediterranean shore to the trails of Mount Carmel.Participants in the September 29-30 event can chose from five routes: a 10-km. race, a traditional 42-km. marathon, a 60-km.ultramarathon, an 80-km. ultramarathon or a 80-km team relay ultramarathon.Individuals in races longer than 10 km. are required to present a doctor’s note and electrocardiogram (EKG) exam results.Race registration price and age requirements vary depending on the length of the course and the number of team members.CENTER The land of milk and marijuana: Cannabis conference hits Tel AvivTel Aviv turned over a pile of proverbial new leaves this week at the city’s annual International Medical Cannabis Conference.Top experts and innovators in the field of medical cannabis gathered for the three-day event that began on Sunday at the beachfront Dan Panorama Hotel.Organized by the Cann10 medical marijuana-focused accelerator, the conference focused on medical and scientific progress, agricultural and genetic advances along with technological and commercial approaches.The symposium was kicked off by Prof. Yehuda Shoenfeld, head of the Zabludowicz Center for Autoimmune Diseases, at Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer, and Prof. Raphael Mechoulam of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Institute for Drug Research.Other speakers included Israeli and international researchers, pharmaceutical experts, hi-tech entrepreneurs and Meretz MK Tamar Zandberg.In May, the second annual CannaTech conference was held in Israel, where the use of medical marijuana has been legal since the early 1990s.Tel Aviv celebrates 15 years of Opera in the Park The Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municipality on Thursday evening continued its 15-year tradition of hosting open theater performances at the Yarkon Park with a free presentation of the Italian opera Madame Butterfly.Mayor Ron Huldai hosted the Opera in the Park production by the Israel Opera that was conducted by maestro Francesco Cilluffo (with Hebrew subtitles).The opera by Giacomo Puccini is considered to be one of the most recognized operatic performances since its premiere in 1904 in Milan.