Tue Feb 18th, 2025

The Galilee Winter Festival

December 26th 2024

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In Givatayim

While the north is still trying to recover, the Western Galilee is coming to the center to celebrate the festival at the Givatayim Theater. People are invited to support tourism businesses in the north.

Following the ceasefire in the north, the tourism business is still struggling to recover from a 14-month period when Galilee tourism came to an almost complete standstill. Even now, movement is slow and small businesses will take a long time to return to full activity. To give tourists time to recover, a festival will be held in the center of the country this year. The 12th edition of the traditional Galilee Winter Festival, organized annually by the Galilee Association  “Western Galilee “Time” (Zman Galil) and the “Jewish National Fund USA”, this year has the collaboration of Givatayim Theatre and the Municipality of Givatayim. It is a rich and colorful farmers and crafts fair with Galilean products, cultural shows and creative workshops and the best of Galilean cuisine. The opening event with the show "ME" from the young group of the Kibbutz Dance Company. And it closes with an intimate meeting with chef Barak Yehezkeli. From January 1 to 4, at the Givatayim Theater. More information: 

https://www.westgalil.org.il/article/winter-festival

“ME” Photo Hirsch

In a touching gesture, the Municipality and the Givatayim Theater invited companies from the “Western Galilee Time” tourism association to a weekend full of activities, experiences and, above all, meetings with people who long to return and earn a living through creative and tourist activities. The joyful event is held with the support of the “Jewish National Fund” of the USA, whose donors and volunteers mobilized for the benefit of the aforementioned companies.

Michal Shiloah Galnoor, Executive Director of the Association “Western Galilee Time” declares: “We are proud to come to Givatayim “We are delighted to welcome you to Galilee with the best culture and cuisine, and to bring together the residents of the centre of the country with the people of our region after 14 months of war. In the coming days, which will be better, we invite everyone to come to Galilee to experience and discover its wonders. Because of the war, this has not been possible and small businesses dedicated to tourism have suffered, some have even been closed. I would like to thank the Municipality and the Theatre, who welcomed us with open arms, and the American philanthropic organisation “Jewish National Fund”, which has believed in us for more than a decade and shows in every crisis that it is by our side, finding ways to continue doing things adapted to the times. Thanks to this, our Association has been able to support small businesses, mostly family-run or social, during the war. I invite the public to come and meet us during the 4 days of experience and to open together the new civil year, which will bring with it new news for all of us.”

Michal Shiloah Galnoor

During the 4 days of the festival, the entire theatre building will be painted in the colours of Galilee, with a special design that will give visitors the feeling of having travelled north to the magical landscapes of Galilee. A tourist information station of the association, which will be designed in the style of the original one located in a building under conservation in the ancient citadel of Ako, will provide visitors with recommendations and tips for travelling in the north. The theatre café will also become Galilean, when its usual menu will be replaced by a variety of dishes inspired by Galilean cuisine, and with raw materials that will come directly from that wonderful region.

On Thursday 2.1 there will be a colourful farmers' fair of Galilean products, an attractive opportunity to stroll among the many stalls of the best producers and artists of Galilee: boutique wineries, goat cheeses, spices, Galilean herbal tea, honey, artisan chocolate, Druze food, Bedouin food, pastries and savoury products from the best bakeries, gluten-free pastries and products, granola, Cuban soups, cosmetics, natural works of art, iron, ceramics and other products and works of Galilee. Alongside them, there will be an authentic traditional Bedouin coffee ceremony. A fun programme awaits children too: The Pastry Chef Hagit Stern from “Brioche” will offer a workshop on preparing colorful fillings and decorations for “sufganiot” and a dessert made of cream and crispy dough.

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 Hagit Stern in “Brioche”

  The artistic program is complete and rich. At the opening, the show will be presented 

“Me-Ani” (Who am I)) a choreography by Léa Bessoudo for the youth group of the 

 Kibbutz Dance Company, an energetic performance on stage, with sweeping movements and a spectacular soundtrack. The festival closes with “Taste of Galilee”: a meeting with chef Barak Yehezkeli, who will reveal the wonderful story of the rebirth of the land and the community of farmers and artisans of the Western Galilee. With tastings of wines and fresh products, combined with the personal story of Barak, who left the big city and moved with his family to live close to the land in the Galilee.

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