White Night extravaganza hits Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv's restaurants, bars, night clubs, theatres, art galleries, and almost every other imaginable public place of leisure have started filling up as the city marks its annual "White Night" celebrations.

No celebration of the city's majesty would be complete without highlighting its unique cultural heritage. Along Rothschild Boulevard and Bialik Street, some 50 Bauhaus-style buildings are being illuminated with special, colored lighting.

The Jaffa Port hosted "a musical feast before sunset," which featured nine Jewish and Arab musicians who performed classical Arab music, western classical music, Flamenco, jazz, and rock.

For music fans looking for an all-night experience, soft rocker Yehudit Ravitz will be performing at North Tzuk Beach beginning at 1:00 A.M.

It's possible to spend the evening hours in the White Night on an assortment of walks through the streets of Tel Aviv.

The Association for Tourism in Tel Aviv-Jaffa is offering a "white walk," a tour on foot honoring the city's centennial that will begin at midnight in the area of Rothschild Boulevard and continue to Shenkin Street, focusing on Tel Aviv's development eastward from the 1920s to the 1940s.

The story of the city's birth will be told at the starting point near the Shalom Mayer Tower, and the home of one of the city's early proponents, Akiva Arie Weiss. From there to Rothschild Boulevard with its kiosk, the city's first streetlight, the city founders monument, the statue of the city's first mayor, Meir Dizengoff, and Dizengoff House. On the corner of Mazeh Street near Angel House, you will hear how the area turned into an international heritage site, and after a visit to King Albert Square, the Pagoda House and Shafran House, the tour ends at Magen David Square.

Additional walks: "Talking houses in Nahalat Binyamin," and "House on a hill" in the Bialik Street area (7 P.M.); alleyways in Neveh Tzedek and the story of the city center (7 P.M.); a tour of the Dizengoff circle area starting at the photo exhibit of Avraham Susskin (8:30 P.M.); a walk for song lovers (9 P.M.); and two walks under the lighting of oil lamps in the Trumpeldor cemetery, where many distinguished Tel Aviv citizens are buried, including Dizengoff, Ahad Ha'am, Haim Arlosorov, the poet Bialik and Israel's second prime minister Moshe Sharett (at 10 P.M. and midnight). The cost of each tour: NIS 30. Registration at the tourist association's information office: 03-5166188.

Further details in English are available here.

Jaffa port is also hosting a variety of White Night happenings. At sundown, Joseph plus One, a nine-piece band composed of Jewish and Arab musicians, will play original pieces influenced by classical Arab and western music, flamenco, jazz, rock and more. 7 P.M. to 8:30 P.M., admission free. For details, 03-6832255.

A guided sail from Jaffa port toward the open sea will be available at regular intervals starting from 6:30 P.M. NIS 30 per person. For details and to register: www.beit-daniel.org.il or call 054-2288958.

The cafe in the Please Touch center will offer food and drink concessions operated by waiters and bartenders who are hard-of-hearing. More information is available here.

For more on the city's centennial celebrations, click here.