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Galilee - Culture
Home  > Galilee - Culture

Galilee - Culture

In the Galilee, the hills and valleys are alive with the sound of song and dance throughout the year. The Galilee is famous for its festivals featuring music, theatre and dance. With many different ethnic and agricultural communities, villages, and small towns, it has become the scene of a number of well-attended festivals appealing to a variety of tastes, interests, and age groups.

Many of the festivals are annual and seasonal. Over the years, they have attracted a devoted following that return to the Galilee year and year for these “happenings.” People come from all over Israel to enjoy the well-loved Klezmer Festival at Safed, the popular dance festival in Karmiel, or the theater festival in Acco. 

Food, Song and Dance

• Jacob's Ladder Folk Festival is a unique musical and social event for lovers of all aspects of folk music from bluegrass to world music, from Irish jigs to country rock, from blues to Renaissance. The festival takes place at Nof Kinosar at the Sea of Galilee every year in spring. For more information, visit Jacob’s Ladder Folk Festival website. 
  
• The Karmiel Dance Festival in Karmiel is the largest celebration of dance in Israel featuring 3 days and nights of non-stop dancing with 5,000 dancers from Israel and the Diaspora in dozens of dance performances A quarter of a million spectators and dancers gather to enjoy the festivities in the green capital of the Galilee. For information about this celebration of dance, see the Karmiel Dance Festival website. 
  
• The Klezmer Festival in Safed is a popular music festival featuring traditional Jewish “soul” music. The name “ Klezmer” derives from "klei zemer" (Hebrew for musical instruments).
• The Acco Theater Festival features alternative (fringe theater) with a wide variety of plays on offer. 
• The November Olive Harvest period is marked with at least a dozen local festivals of traditional foods, music, crafts, and dance. Check with the Nazareth and Akko Tourist Information offices for the best listings.
• The Renaissance Festival at the Yechiam Fortress, held during Succot, features traditional music. Actors, singers, and dancers dressed in traditional garb entertain the crowd. 
• The bird watching festival in the Hula Valley offers keen bird watchers a feast for the eyes. Hula is one of the best bird-watching regions in the world. The festival is run by The Society for the Protection of Nature of Israel (SPNI). For more information on bird watching, visit the web site. 
• The Music and Nature festival in Misgav offers a series of events throughout the year providing fun for the whole family including storytelling, plays, and live musical performances. 
• The Mosaic festival in Nazareth Elite held during Passover is aptly named: it aims to bring together a variety of different communities, cultures and artists from throughout Israel for three days of performances by some of the country's leading performers.
• The International Sculpture Symposium,"East — West,"  taking place in Ma'alot during Passover features sculpture and creative workshops.
• The Jordan Valley Festival, "The Valley is a Treasure," takes place during Passover. It's an ideal time to go on walking tours to enjoy the spring flowers in bloom, see the wealth of birdlife, and visit the many historical sites in the area.
• The Milk and Honey Festival taking place throughout the Jezreel Valley offers a host of activities during the Shavuot festival including jeep trails, horse races, bus tours of the valley, folk dancing, folk singing, and a flower and farm market. 
  

These are just some of the festivals and cultural activities on offer in the Galilee. There are a large number of museums and art galleries  in the region. From music to art, from food to bird watching, the Galilee festivals offer fun all year round.