A feast for the eyes – and then some

Holon’s Adloyada, the country’s biggest Purim parade, celebrates its 20th anniversary with a tantalizing theme.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Holon's Purim Adloyada_390 (photo credit: Courtesy Ora Lapidot )
Holon's Purim Adloyada_390
(photo credit: Courtesy Ora Lapidot )
The country’s largest Purim parade, Holon’s Adloyada, will be rolling out at noon on Thursday, March 8. The Adloyada is marking its 20th anniversary with the theme Tastes of Childhood, a unique “food festival” that will whet the appetites of children and adults alike.
This year, the Adloyada is being held in conjunction with the Nickelodeon children’s channel and the Food Channel. Nickelodeon will be holding a contest for kids about the Adloyada.
At 11 a.m., before the Adloyada begins, there will be an array of theatrical vehicles that will traverse the parade route and warm up the crowd.
Then, to the sound of the popular Israeli song “Food and More Food,” the 20th annual Adloyada in Holon will begin. Some 6,000 participants – huge balloons, floats and other mobile installations, artists, actors, bands, wind musicians, drummers, dancers, acrobats, skaters and more – will march in a Purim display that will feature everything that kids love to eat.
The stars of the Adloyada are the floats and other mobile installations, many of which will change shape right in front of the crowds – moving up and down, opening and coming apart.
The parade will begin with a huge display to mark the Adloyada’s 20th anniversary, featuring Holon’s child mascot and giant sculptures from past parades. The procession will continue with a two-meter-high Popeye holding his fortifying can of spinach. He will be followed by a huge portion of felafel, with the pita opening and closing, from which a group of dancers will emerge to entertain the crowd.
After that comes a schnitzel on its own float, followed by representations of Israeli gourmet, with large likenesses of chefs Yisrael Aharoni, Shaul Ben- Aderet, Moshe Segev and Eyal Shani cooking their way through the crowd in a huge steaming pot.
Peter Pan will make an appearance on a rotating float filled with massive portions of ice cream, candy, chocolate and Krembos. Sponge Bob will also march in the parade, accompanied by 20 little Sponge Bobs and the children who won the Nickelodeon channel’s recipe contest.
In reference to last summer’s social protest, there will be a float dedicated to dairy products. In the midst of the float, giant puppets that represent Binyamin Netanyahu and and Avigdor Lieberman will be milking a colossal cow, surrounded by stacks of cheeses, puddings and ice cream bars.
Fast food will hold a place of honor in the form of a gigantic hamburger being eaten by an even larger boy, which will also open to discharge dancers to delight the spectators. This will be followed by a health food float, featuring a giant sculpture of fruits and vegetables. A float dedicated to international cuisine is comprised of a rotating globe bearing pictures of kids from all over the world eating their favorite traditional foods, such as Italian pasta, Japanese sushi, Tahitian pineapple and Swiss chocolate.
The floats will be accompanied by thousands of performers from Holon and all over Israel, such as dance troupes, gymnasts, marching bands, acrobats, bikers and skaters. They will all be wearing food-related costumes. Look for them dressed like candy, chocolate, popsicles, vegetables, dairy products and other foods.
The Adloyada parade will march the length of Holon’s Sokolov Street and end on Weizmann Street at the corner of Leon Blum Street. After the parade, there will be a huge street party with music, acrobatics and pyrotechnics in the plaza across from City Hall on Weizmann Street.
During the two days of Purim, there will also be creative workshops for all ages in Weizmann Square: Thursday, March 8, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Friday between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
After the Adloyada, the floats will remain on display until March 12 at the Mediatheque plaza at 6 Golda Meir Street in Holon.