Holiday of Holidays Festival marks 20 years of merriment in Haifa

Many exciting activities are taking place around the country.

By COMPILEDNATHAN WISE
Cartoon holidays 521 (photo credit: Pepe Fainberg)
Cartoon holidays 521
(photo credit: Pepe Fainberg)
NORTH
This year, the famed Holiday of Holidays Festival in Haifa is celebrating 20 years; the secular event has come to stand for coexistence and multiculturalism. The festival runs until December 27, when the city invites visitors to enjoy theatrical and musical performances, vendors and art exhibits.
The happening centers around the scenic Wadi Nisnas and the German Colony neighborhoods, in the lower part of the Carmel.
On December 21 at 12 noon, the Arab-Jewish Orchestra is scheduled to give a free concert on Hawadi Street on the main stage of the festival.
Under the direction of conductor Taiseer Elias, the orchestra mixes both Eastern and Western instruments. Alongside music from the classical Western canon, the orchestra is set to perform new music by Israeli Arab and Jewish conductors.
Festival hours are 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; admission is free.
More information can be found at www.haifahag.com
Christmas Market Festival lights up the night in Nazareth
The annual Christmas Market Festival is on right now in Nazareth. Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to attend the event, which features live music, folk dancing performances, food stalls with local holiday treats and crafts, and Santa Claus. The alleys of the Old City will be lit up and buzzing into the night. Restaurants in the city will be offering special menus featuring traditional holiday dishes.
The event kicked off on Wednesday with the Christmas tree lighting ceremony and a fireworks display in Mary’s Well Square.
On Saturday, traditional singer Khalil Abu Nikola is scheduled to take the main stage at 9:15 p.m., and on Sunday the renowned rapper Tamar Nafar is set to perform at 7 p.m. Nafar is an Israeli Arab who once collaborated with the Israeli-Jewish rapper Subliminal.
CENTER World food and music at Beit Hatfutsot charity gala
Beit Hatfutsot, the Museum of the Jewish People, will hold its annual gala charity dinner December 22 in the Tel Aviv Hilton. The event, “Flavors and Sounds, Cooking the Jewish Story,” is a tribute to the music and food of the Jewish people; the cost is NIS 1,000 per person.
The Hilton chef will lead six cooks from the Nashim Mevashlot (Women Cook) ethnic cooking organization in preparing Jewish dishes from all over the world.
The Street Philharmonic, an ensemble of immigrant street musicians, will perform world music at the event.
Christmas season welcomed in Jaffa Christmas is coming up and to mark the holiday the Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municipality, along with the city’s Greek Orthodox Scouts, has displayed a large Christmas tree in front of Jaffa’s Andromeda complex.
The city claims that the 15-meter-high, 6.5-meter-circumference tree is the largest Christmas tree in Israel.
The lighting of the tree was held last Sunday.
Throughout the holiday, Jaffa’s Yefet Street, between Yehuda Margoza and Louis Pasteur streets, will be lit up festively.
All bicycle lovers to Holon If you like bikes, head to Holon. Both the city’s Design Museum and its smaller Hachava Gallery are currently featuring bicycle-themed exhibits.
The “Free Wheel” exhibition at Design Museum Holon focuses on the industrial design and historical aspects of bicycles. The exhibition includes original bikes from the local Israeli industry, a general historical retrospective of the vehicles and 43 bicycles from the world-renowned collection of Vienna designer Michael Embacher.
The exhibit runs through March 22 and admission is NIS 35.
Meanwhile, the Hachava Gallery’s “In High Gear” exhibit approaches bikes from a more artistic and conceptual angle. The gallery is a 10-minute drive from the Design Museum.
Pieces on display at Hachava include bicycles and bicycle parts that have been turned into other objects such as dresses, jewelry, sculpture and furniture. An intriguing piece is a bicycle that industrial designer Eyal Regev has covered in long thorns, reminiscent of the thorns on the sabra cactus. The curator suggests that the bicycle is a nostalgic piece harking back to the designer’s childhood.
The exhibit at Hachava ends on February 2; admission is free.
SOUTH Challenge yourself in the desert Billed as Israel’s biggest sport nature festival, the Veolia
Desert Challenge is set for December 20-21 at Sdom in the Tamar Regional Council next to the Dead Sea.
The event includes a 72-km. mountain bike race and a 30-km. night run, or “moon run,” through the desert. There will also be family events such as a bike ride through Nahal Pratzim. Participants will be able to take part in shorter and less challenging varieties of both the night run and the bike race.
Beersheba showcases art by autistic children Art created by autistic children is currently on display at the Beersheba City Hall; the exhibit contains the work of 18 autistic kids who attend a city day program.
Beersheba’s spokesman said that the works of art give the viewer “a small glimpse into the inner world of the children, who have difficulty expressing themselves with words but succeed in doing so by way of form and color.”