It’s called the Israel Festival but it all takes place in Jerusalem. Over 3 weeks during late May and early June, this spring happening brings together professionals from around the world to perform in Jerusalem’s unique spaces.
The program is packed with contemporary dance performances, live music shows, theater productions and performance art, staged in Jerusalem’s most distinctive venues. There are also professional conferences and workshops with international guest artists who are performing in the festival, making it the focal point of the thriving Jerusalem arts scene.
The Israel Festival is designed to encourage cultural interaction and artistic discourse between local and international artistes of all kinds, with the public invited to watch. Most performances take place over the weekends and many people travel to Jerusalem to enjoy a weekend of cultural variety.
The Festival’s opening event – “Hip Hop Land” – features hip-hop, break-dance, spoken word, graffiti, and video mapping artists. For Israel’s 70th birthday, the artists have been inspired to create original music and texts relating to Israel’s Declaration of Independence.
Throughout the Israel Festival you can sign up for “Remote Jerusalem” – a theatrical tour of the city with headphones. Groups of visitors will enjoy this audio-visual experience, interacting with virtual artists and musicians in the city’s historic locations, exploring the possibilities created by urban spaces.
Children are invited to enjoy a new musical and theatrical adaptation of “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, combining an original music performance with live sand drawing on stage at the Jerusalem Theater.
“Monkeys” is a show featuring 12 artists, of whom 9 are robotic monkey puppets who represent the human life-cycle and explore the pseudo-human condition. The show is designed to examine the reality of a functioning society created by robots who have their own needs and emotions. Another thought-provoking show is “Guide”, which follows a young dancer and his future self who try to change their past and their future.
Other events during the 3-week festival will take place at Sultan’s Pool, the First Station, the Israel Museum, the Tower of David, the YMCA, the Ein Kerem neighborhood, and Jerusalem’s various theaters. You can find out more and book tickets on the Israel Festival website in English: https://www.israel-festival.org/en/