The Jerusalem Arts and Crafts Festival
For three weeks in August, Jerusalem hosts a huge arts and crafts festival. I had wanted to go for weeks, but Matt and I finally had time to go last Wednesday night. It was such a blast!
The festival is much, much more than just for arts and crafts. There were rows and rows of booths from artists and stores in Israel and then there were booths labeled from about 25 or so other countries including Argentina, Bolivia, China, Ethiopia, and Madagascar. All had things to sell.
Then there was the entertainment. Each night the festival hosts a band or singer at a stadium that can sit thousands of guests. Also, throughout the festival grounds, there are clowns, face-painting areas, and balloon artists. Plus, we saw three stages set up with continuous acts which included a puppet theater, juggling, acrobatics, and singing.
All of this is included in the entrance fee of just 40 shekels for adults (about $10) or 30 shekels for students (about $8).
Then there was the food court. It was so exciting! A whole food court at a festival that was kosher! We went up and down the rows of food booths to determine what to eat. Since there were both dairy and meat booths, we had to decide what to do. Luckily, I thought that we could do dairy first and then wait half an hour and come back and have meat.
For dairy, there were many choices. We could have eaten pizza, fondue, cheese-and-spice-stuffed gourmet bread, or a waffle dessert. We chose to have the waffle dessert because we had heard great thing about it and hadn't tried one before.
Basically, the waffle dessert consists of a waffle bottom (rectangular, about 6 inches by 4 inches) upon which they lather a milk chocolate spread and then top is with sprinkles or nuts depending on your choice. Both Matt and I chose sprinkles. Yummy!
I was all "sugared up" but Matt wanted more. He saw a cotton candy maker and got a huge one. (Matt never passes up cotton candy!)
About an hour later we headed back for a more conventional dinner with meat. We could have chosen corndogs, chicken skewers, hamburgers, fried chicken, Chinese food, and much more. Perhaps not surprisingly, we chose the Chinese food.
It was our first experience with Israeli "lines." We had been warned about them beforehand, so I was prepared. Basically, in Israel a line is not really a line. It's more of a how-hard-can-you-push-to-the-front-without-causing-a-fight line. With elbows out, I made it to the front with only (purposely) allowing one person in front of me because she was a soldier. However, we had gone to the festival with a couple of friends who didn't want to be as pushy so it took them another 8 minutes or so to get their Chinese food.
We had a great time, ate well, and saw some good shows. Although the festival is now over, I wish I could go back.
The festival is much, much more than just for arts and crafts. There were rows and rows of booths from artists and stores in Israel and then there were booths labeled from about 25 or so other countries including Argentina, Bolivia, China, Ethiopia, and Madagascar. All had things to sell.
Then there was the entertainment. Each night the festival hosts a band or singer at a stadium that can sit thousands of guests. Also, throughout the festival grounds, there are clowns, face-painting areas, and balloon artists. Plus, we saw three stages set up with continuous acts which included a puppet theater, juggling, acrobatics, and singing.
All of this is included in the entrance fee of just 40 shekels for adults (about $10) or 30 shekels for students (about $8).
Then there was the food court. It was so exciting! A whole food court at a festival that was kosher! We went up and down the rows of food booths to determine what to eat. Since there were both dairy and meat booths, we had to decide what to do. Luckily, I thought that we could do dairy first and then wait half an hour and come back and have meat.
For dairy, there were many choices. We could have eaten pizza, fondue, cheese-and-spice-stuffed gourmet bread, or a waffle dessert. We chose to have the waffle dessert because we had heard great thing about it and hadn't tried one before.
Basically, the waffle dessert consists of a waffle bottom (rectangular, about 6 inches by 4 inches) upon which they lather a milk chocolate spread and then top is with sprinkles or nuts depending on your choice. Both Matt and I chose sprinkles. Yummy!
I was all "sugared up" but Matt wanted more. He saw a cotton candy maker and got a huge one. (Matt never passes up cotton candy!)
About an hour later we headed back for a more conventional dinner with meat. We could have chosen corndogs, chicken skewers, hamburgers, fried chicken, Chinese food, and much more. Perhaps not surprisingly, we chose the Chinese food.
It was our first experience with Israeli "lines." We had been warned about them beforehand, so I was prepared. Basically, in Israel a line is not really a line. It's more of a how-hard-can-you-push-to-the-front-without-causing-a-fight line. With elbows out, I made it to the front with only (purposely) allowing one person in front of me because she was a soldier. However, we had gone to the festival with a couple of friends who didn't want to be as pushy so it took them another 8 minutes or so to get their Chinese food.
We had a great time, ate well, and saw some good shows. Although the festival is now over, I wish I could go back.
posted by Jen | 11:06 PM
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