The Israel Festival celebrates its fiftieth year with four weeks of celebrations by performers from Israel and abroad!
23.05.2011 - 18.06.2011
The Israel Festival is the largest and most important international arts and cultural festival in the land and has chosen Jerusalem as its eternal home (save for a few scattered events in other cities). The Festival, now in its 50th year, runs for several weeks and features high-end theater, music, and dance performances in various venues around Jerusalem. This year's venues include several halls (Sherover, Henry Crown Hall, Rivka Crown, The Studio), Sultan's Pool, the International Convention Center, the new Israel Museum, Botanical Gardens, Beit Shmuel, Gerard Behar, and more. Festival performances will also take place in Holon, Modiin, Dimona and at historical sites all over Israel. The Festival is honored to host artists from many countries including Israel, the Unites States, Chile, Denmark, Russia, Germany, New Zealand, Switzerland, Belgium, Finland, Italy, England, Austria, Czech Republic, Georgia, Japan, France, Ireland and Greece.
Special Events
- To kick off the festival, the Israeli Ballet along with Moscow's Bolshoi Soloists will perform "Giselle" in Safra Square.
- In honor of the fiftieth year, a giant party will take place in Gan Sacher featuring Rita, Hadag Nachash, David D'or accompanied by the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, and the Vertigo and Hora Jerusalem dance troupes.
- Jerusalem's Botanical Garden will host a "Living Museum." Audiences can watch eight different shows with the common theme of gardens, including excerpts from "Swan Lake", "The Rite of Spring" and "Midsummer Night's Dream."
- To mark fifty years of the festival and one hundred years since the birth of Teddy Kollek, there will be a large concert in Gan Sacher.
- For the first time, the festival will kick off events in the Tel Hai courtyard in the northern Galilee and Yad Mordechai in the south. These sites will continue to take part in the festival in the coming years.
- "Photographers on Stage: Fifty Years of the Israel Festival", a visual exhibition in the Jerusalem Theater. The exhibition will depict the festival's history including its early days; posters throughout the years; video of dance, theater and performance; a tribute to photographers of the generations. Curated by Guy Raz.
Photo credit: Idit Herman
