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

Though it may seem like the whole country is on vacation this month, there's plenty to do around town this week for those who do plan to stick around. Jerusalem's first ever sidewalk graffiti festival kicks off tonight at the Jerusalem Theatre's plaza, warming up the grounds for the upcoming annual end of the year festival, 720 Degrees, the huge digital art installation by Ron Arad, opens at the Israel Museum, the Balabasta festival shakes thing up at Machane Yehuda for the third and final Monday of the summer. Read on below for the full schmear.

• Don't forget the spray paint! Three days of three dimensional sidewalk graffiti and a lot of color promise to captivate and engage audiences of all ages at the Jerusalem Theatre's first ever Sidewalk Festival. Fully dedicated to color and street art, the festival is the first of its kind in Jerusalem, featuring graffiti art exhibits, a wooden zoo come to life, and body painting. Catch the second two days of the festival tonight and on Saturday night.
  
  
• "720 Degrees", designer Ron Arad's monumental work originally commissioned by the Roundhouse London as "Curtain Call," kicks off at the Israel Museum on Thursday night. 5,600 suspended silicon ropes form a perfect sphere - a digital screen on which works of video art by Israeli and international artists are projected; these may be viewed from without or from within.
  
  
• The Beit Habubot Quartet and the Alma Ensemble will open the gates of heaven in a surprising encounter this Friday as part of this summer's series of unique Friday "Kabbalat Shabbat" concerts, featuring the best of secular and religious musical names. The concert will take place at the Gerard Bechar Center's plaza on Bezalel Street at 15:30.
  
  
• Treat yourself to a lavish brunch buffet featuring a wide array of gourmet culinary delights at the historic American Colony Hotel, every Saturday from 12:00-15:30. The hotel, famous worldwide and an integral part of Jerusalem's history and culture, lies in the heart of Jerusalem, offering convenient access to Jerusalem's many sights the Old City.
  
  
• Machane Yehuda comes to life after hours for the third year in a row as dancers, musicians, sculptors, actors, poets, and those who have yet to be categorized weave in and out of the fresh and colorful produce at the 2012 Balabasta Festival (part of the Jerusalem Season of Culture). Don't miss the last day of this year's festival, taking place this Sunday.
  
  
• Dr. Chen Marx, scholar of Midrash and Aggadic literature, moderates this month's installment of "Kicking off the Month" at Beit Avi Chai. The theme of this encounter (in Hebrew) for the month of Elul is "The End": participants at the session will explore the significance of the apocalypse in Kabbalah and art, and participate in a sing along.
  
  
• Encounter the past, celebrate the present, and prepare for the future as you learn more about Mount Herzl's unique story at the Herzl Museum, a multi-sensory educational center centered around the life and times of the founder of Zionism, Binyamin Zev Herzl. The whole family is invited to tour the museum and play the competitive "Searching in History" game.
  
  
• Popular Greek musician Giorgos Dalaras visits Israel in August playing a concert at Sultan’s Pool on Wednesday, August 22. He’ll be accompanied by 10 musicians and two guest vocalists, Dimitris Mpasis and Melina Aslanidou as he plays his greatest hits.
  
  

And see our full events section for plenty more.