Jerusalem hotels, restaurants, attractions, tours & events. Helping since 2008

It may seem like the entire country is vacationing overseas this month, but those who stick around Jerusalem - or make it their destination - are rewarded with oodles of things to do around town, like the Chutzot Hayotzer festival, special kids activities and a huge student party in Sacher Park.

• On Thursday night, everybody with an instrument and their mother plays in Jerusalem. From funk/jazz ensemble Marsh Dondurma at Safra Square (in a tribute show covering the Shlomo Gronich songbook), to rocker Berry Sakharof (pictured) and trance team Infected Mushroom at Gan Sacher, to drummer Roberto Juan Rodriguez and his septet at Beit Avi Chai, you may not be able to go five feet without hearing the sound of awesome live music.

• Chillax yourself before Shabbat on Friday with a visit to Kedma, where an ambient lounge DJ spins tunes against kicking views of the city to accompany a wide array of fruit, salads, finger-foods and refreshing cocktails from the bar on offer.

• Experience Shabbat in Jerusalem as you never have before this Saturday afternoon, when New Spirit takes over the Khan Theater courtyard with live music and drinks. The sunlit party features a performance by Eyfo Hayeled alum Hemi Redner, followed by a DJ set from Itzik Daddia. Entrance costs 15 NIS, but they'll waive the fees for those who help promote the party on Facebook.

• Missed the Israel Museum's Wine Tasting Festival this week? No reason to fret. Lavan is keeping the vino flowing with its own festival devoted to bubbly, with glasses for just 15 NIS.

• One of Jerusalem's less well-known festivals is one for kids' films. Coming about a week before school gets going, it's the perfect treat for bored-at-home kids and parents out of ideas. The festival kicks off Monday at the Cinematheque with a variety of children's movies specially dubbed into Hebrew, along with a number of creativity workshops and encounters with filmmakers.
  
  For those who prefer their fun air-conditioned, tours of the Hall of Mirrors at the Bloomfield Science Museum are available for both children and adults through the end of the month. The hall's engaging and mystifying play with angles and reflections makes for fun exploration.

• Go fly a kite. Seriously. On Tuesday, the Israel Museum holds another annual installment of its long-running Kite-Flying Festival, with kite-making workshops, puppet parades and a whole lot of flying.

  Tuesday, check out a jazzed-up variety fair in the German Colony from 17:00 to 23:00 in the courtyard of the Adam School. The event features a colorful art exhibit, a fashion design boutique market, a chair massage area and more. The weekly jazz performance begins at 20:00.

• Summer is soon giving way to fall, school, high holidays and all that jazz. For the fifth years straight, this means that the Jerusalem Theatre is throwing a proper sendoff from Tuesday through next Thursday, with a marathon of music, dance, theater, cinema, video art, animation, pyrotechnics and laser shows for the whole family, bundled each night into two age group-themed shifts.