A small taste of Israel’s festival calendar

Festivals celebrating passions as diverse as puppets, olives, choral music, birdwatching and the martial arts, pack the Israeli calendar chockful. Every year are no less than fifteen international film festivals, dozens of music, theater, dance and food festivals, renaissance festivals, peace festivals and spiritual festivals — before, after and during the Jewish holidays and festivals.

January	February	March
Shvat Tu Bishvat	Adar Purim	Nissan Pesach
TuBishvat Plantings around the country Mifgashim Festival New Age, Spiritual www.m-f.co.il (heb.)	Women’s Festival www.hth.co.il (heb.) Bellydancing Festival, Eilat www.eilat.bellydancer.co.il Eilat Spring Migration Festival Birdwatching www.eilatbirds festival.com Eilat International Chamber Music Festival www.eilat-festival.co.il/EN/index.php Tel Aviv Jazz Festival www.jazzfest.co.il	Eilat International Film Festival www.eilatfilmfest.com Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival www.jcmf.org.il Reggae Festival, Kibbutz Tze’elim www.reggae.co.il/english/ Adyolada Purim Parties around the country
April	May	June
Nissan-Iyar Memorial Day	Iyar Independence Day Lag Baomer	Sivan Shavuot
Juggling Festival, Sachne www.ijc.co.il Percussion Festival, Jerusalem www.confederation house.org DocAviv, Tel Aviv Documentary Film Festival www.docaviv.co.il International Music Festival, Tel Aviv Classical www.blumental festival.com Israel Festival, Jerusalem Performing Arts www.israel-festival.org.il	Independence Day Celebrations around the country Jacob’s Ladder Folk Festival www.jlfestival.com Festival for and about Young Women, Bat Yam www.naara-batyam.co.il (heb.) Boombamela, Nitzanim Beach New Age www.boombamela.co.il	Martial Arts Festival, Sachne www.dojo.co.il (heb.) Hebrew Book Week www.sfarim.org.il (heb.)
July	August	September
Tamuz-Av Tisha Beav	Elul	Tishrei Rosh Hashana Yom Kippur
Puppet Theater Festival, Holon www.puppetcenter.co.il Summer Blues R&B Festival www.t-g.co.il Upper Galilee Classical Music Festival, Kfar Blum www.galil-elion.org.il/music (heb.)	Klezmer Festival, Tzfat klezmerf.com (heb.) Red Sea Jazz Festival, Eilat www.redseajazzeilat.com Bible Stories Festival, Yoav Region www.touryoav.org.il/ yoav/bible.html (heb.) Karmiel Folkdance Festival www.karmielfestival.co.il Love in the Vineyards Festival Galilee www.2beav.co.il (heb.) Jerusalem Film Festival www.jff.org.il/	Honey Festival around the country www.honey.org.il (heb.) Int’l Electronic Culture Festival, Timna Park www.holyrave.com Festival of Jewish Rock and Soul, Beit Shemesh www.shemeshfest.com Latin Dance Festival, Tel Aviv www.layla.co.il/fiesta
October	November	December
Tishrei Succot	Cheshvav	Kislev-Tevet Chanukah
Storytelling Festival, Givatayim www.mesaprim.co.il (heb.) ICON, Celebration of SciFi, Fantasy and Role Playing www.icon.org.il Haifa Film Festival www.haifaff.co.il Abu Ghosh Vocal Music Festival www.agfestival.co.il Jaffa International Children’s Theatre Festival www.arab-hebrew-theatre.org.il Acco Festival of Alternative Theater www.accofestival.co.il	Galilee Olive Festival www.galil.gov.il/zait Bicycle Festival, Sdom,Dead Sea www.shvoong.co.il (heb.) Tel Aviv Dance www.suzannedellal.org.il Oud Festival, Jerusalem confederationhouse.org International Poetry Festival, Jerusalem israel.poetryinternational web.org	Chanukah Celebrations around the country Festival of Festivals, Haifa celebrating Chanukah, Christmas and Ramadan www.haifahag.com A Stone in the Galilee, Ma’alot Tarshicha International Stone Sculpture Symposium Children’s Arts Festival www.t-g.co.il Piano Festival, Tel Aviv www.suzannedellal.org.il

Art and commerce thus aligned beget a dizzying progeny of festivals. Propelled by success, individual artists, hobbyists and entrepreneurs, as well as communities and organizations, are thrusting their pet pursuits into the limelight: didgeridoos, Jewish-Arab coexistence, psychodelic rock, tomatoes, wine and the list goes on. If you find yourself with a little time on your hands during Succot, for instance, you may try a hot air balloon festival near Eilat, an international film festival in Haifa, an alternative theater festival in Acco, a Renaissance festival in Yehiam, a poetry festival in Tel Aviv or a children’s music festival in Holon. There are no losers in the festival game, so let the good times roll.