June 26, 2014

A White Night reveler in Tel Aviv. (Photo by Abir Sultan/FLASH90)
A White Night reveler in Tel Aviv. (Photo by Abir Sultan/FLASH90)

Tel Aviv’s 11th White Night event is set for this evening (June 26), and the list of cultural offerings throughout the city is long and robust. On the bill: Family events, concerts, theater, dance, art, literature workshops, tours, lectures and food tours.

Tel Aviv calls itself the “non-stop city” and its true colors always shine during this annual all-night event.

While in years past we’ve hired a babysitter for White Night, this year we’ve decided to enjoy the city as a family. The Queeny Mini concert for kids in Jaffa (18:30) looks great. But after discussion with our pint-size culture vultures, it has been decided that we’ll be hitting the Bollywood Dancing Workshop at Habima Square (19:30).

We might still change our minds. After all, there are so many options – and most of them are free – that narrowing it down is quite difficult.

White Night officially kicks off at Hatikva Market with food, music and street theater (16:00-21:00).

There’s a celebration of live music on Bialik Square that will feature DJs, rappers, punk, hip-hop and contemporary electronic music starting at 18:00.

Dozens of other concerts throughout the city include Orphaned Land (Jaffa, 20:00); Baroque at Yad Lebanim (20:00); a marathon of jazz ensembles at the Israel Conservatory of Music (17:00); klezmer outside the Mann Auditorium (17:00); and tons more.

White Night organizers are heavily promoting the new Sarona complex. Take a tour of the gentrified Templer colony and newest recreation venue in Tel Aviv-Jaffa.

Last year’s Amazing Headphones Party will be reprised. (Photo by Dror Garti/FlASH90)
Last year’s Amazing Headphones Party will be reprised. (Photo by Dror Garti/FlASH90)

Back by popular demand is the Amazing Headphones Party With Your Own Smartphones. Rent headphones or bring your own to this party in your head. Top DJs will be behind the decks. Fun starts at 20:00 through to the wee hours of tomorrow morning.

With Israeli food enjoying the limelight lately, it makes sense that two huge foodie events should be on the menu. Tel Aviv’s inaugural Diner en Blanc debuted quietly last night, drawing some 300 picnickers. (The original event in Paris involves some 15,000 people to an impromptu outdoor picnic, and 40 such events are scheduled around the world this year.)

Today you can take part in cooking workshops at the Tahana or visit the “Made in Israel” market (from 17:00) that includes the best of Israeli produce, cheeses and homemade jams, wines and beers and more.

The city’s museums are offering discount entry fees and keeping doors open till midnight. The Tel Aviv Museum of Art is currently hosting the fantastic Vik Muniz “Pictures of Anything” exhibit.

And there’s no better way to end the all-night fun than with yoga at sunrise at the Tel Aviv Port at 5:30.

While White Night festivals take place throughout the world, in Tel Aviv the event takes on a special meaning. The Tel Aviv-Jaffa municipality kicked off White Night after the city was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July 2003 and got nicknamed the White City due its world-largest concentration of white Bauhaus buildings.

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