Fuerza Bruta in Tel Aviv, Israel

FuerzaBruta is really something different, a spectacle and something that combines some of the best talents from around the world in acrobatics, aerobics, dance and special effects. Their visit is going to be one of the most unique events in Tel Aviv this year and one of the highlights of the events in Israel in February. To get an idea of what they do, check out the trailer below. Tickets are from NIS249.

For EPOS festival has become one of the top film events in Tel Aviv of the year. Because of the diversity of the program, check out the full event listings on the festival website.

The Tel Aviv Art Weekend begins on Wednesday, March 21 when Pecha Kucha will take place. In this, a selection of artists and performers will each give a 6 minute, 40 second presentation of their work.

On Thursday, March 22 the Tel Aviv Museum of Art Marathon will see the museum open to the public for a 24-hour event including talks, classes, and tours.

Friday, March 23 will see the GaGa at the Museum event: a large-scale dance event in conjunction with Ohad Naharin of the Bat Sheva Dance Company.

On Saturday, March 24, an open-air show, with Tel Aviv’s best visual arts, dance, music and film, as well as special performers from abroad spreading throughout the city’s streets and public spaces.

In addition, throughout the Tel Aviv Art Weekend, the city will be filled with exhibition openings, art tours and public displays.

Folk Music Festivals in Israel

Jacob's Ladder Music Festival in Israel

Jacob’s Ladder Music Festival is held twice (spring and fall) a year at Kibbutz Nof Ginosar on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Devoted to folk music, the festival has been running for over thirty years, and attracts a large crowd of Israelis and anglos who have together given this festival its reputation for safety and community. Lasting a total of three days, and containing folk and a little blues from around fifty performers, its a diverse and relaxing music festival for all those folk-lovers.

The Guitar Festival in the Desert celebrates the guitar in the peace and tranquillity of the Negev Desert between the city of Beer Sheva and the Mitzpe Ramon crater. Attracting a family-friendly crowd (kids under five are free and under 12 pay half price), this once a year festival (held in fall) includes a mix of new and old with some big Israeli names included in the line-up.

Classical Music in Israel

Abu Gosh Music Festival is a twice annual music festival in Israel (at sukkot in fall and shavuot in spring) held in the Israeli-Arab town of Abu Gosh near Jerusalem. A town famed for its hummus shifts focus for the concert series centred in a historic church, but including vocal performances wherever you turn your head.

The Safed Klezmer Festival is dedicated to, you guessed it klezmer or instrumental music originating from Eastern Europe. Held every August, this also takes over the whole of the Galilee city of Safed famed for being the center of Jewish mysticism, or Kabbalah. And it makes sense too, with over 100 performers and up to 15,000 fans coming to enjoy.

Ein Gev Festival is almost seventy years old and is focused on Hebrew Music – singing in groups and choirs. On the banks of the Sea of Galilee at Ein Gev during Passover in the Spring, over 70 performers this is a nostalgic event where not only can you hear but you can also participate with classes teaching and enabling participation.

The Piano Festival, Tel Aviv, takes place every November and includes exclusive performances by some of the largest names in Israeli music.

Every September, the Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival brings world class talent to the city over the two week program.

Opera in Israel

Every summer, the Israel Opera Festival features opera at Masada, a series of magnificent operatic performances set beautifully in the Negev desert in this beautiful location. The festival has in the past attracted some of the most famous performers in opera and in 2012, will feature Carmen at Masada.

Jazz in Israel

It would be impossible to ignore the Red Sea Jazz Festival which takes place every August for four-days. Nine jazz concerts each night, six master-classes, and nightly jam sessions contain jazz from around the world at the tranquil Red Sea Resort of Eilat. Over its thirty year history, the festival has attracted the likes of Chick Corea, the Mingus Big Band, Tower of Power, The Manhattan Transfer, Ricki Lee Jones and Spyro Gyra to its stages. In recent years, a winter Red Sea Jazz Festival has also begun running.

The Red Sea Jazz Festival

Rock in Israel

In-D-Negev is, you guessed, it set in the breathtaking Negev Desert and held each fall. Focusing on Israeli Indie Music, this three day extravaganza attracts almost 5,000 to pitch up their tents in the desert near the Kibbutz of Gvulot, far away from the usual stages of these performers in the basement clubs of Tel Aviv.

Tamar Festival adds to the competition of location of these festivals. Just when you thought it couldn’t get more impressive, you realise that sunrise at Masada, is perhaps up there! Held each fall during the festival of Succot, and with stages situated all around the amazing Dead Sea region, even if the music doesn’t entertain, the surroundings are sure to. Running for five days, the festival attracts some big Israeli names including Asaf Avidan and Idan Raichel as well as international stars such as Matisyahu.

The Jerusalem Woodstock Revival doesn’t as you might expect attract just the older generation! Israeli bands perform some of the biggest songs of the sixties every August in the cool calm of the Jerusalem nighttime.

Alternative Music Festivals in Israel

The Jerusalem International Oud Festival would definitely be the one festival you’d go to if you just wanted to go to the quirky one. Dedicated to the Turkish instrument, the oud, which is played throughout the Middle East this festival is held annually in November in Jerusalem and Nazareth. Israel 21C call this “an acquired taste” and it sure is but its also an “only-in-Israel” experience.

Image credit: TouristIsrael.com

Every Monday in February, the Sound of Winter festival will be taking place across Jerusalem. A total of over 80 free concerts, exhibitions, classes and more, the Sound of Winter includes some of Israel’s biggest singers and is running for the first time in 2012.

Every Thursday in February, Tel Aviv University will continue to host its amazing range of free lectures, concerts, film screenings, exhibitions, and live performances in the Thurdsays on Campus series.

February 1-4, 2012 will see EPOS, The International Art Film Festival, dedicated to encounters between the arts and cinema, take place in Tel Aviv.

On February 2, 2012, international dj sensation, will be the concert of AVICII in Tel Aviv. He will be performing as part of XL Nightlife Festival at the Bitan 1 club.

The amazingly unique dance show sensation FuerzaBruta will be in Tel Aviv, for a month of shows between February 2-22, 2012 and will be performing at the Tel Aviv Exhibition Grounds.

Every Saturday in February, the Florentin Circus, one of Israel’s top circus’s will be performing at their base in Tel Aviv. Tickets are only from 50NIS and it is great fun for the whole family.

The Tel Aviv Accessible Art Fair takes place between February 12-16, 2012. Taking over a beautiful building in Jaffa, the exhibition features up and coming contemporary artists from Israel and beyond.

Willy Russell’s musical Blood Brothers is in Tel Aviv for one night only on February 12, 2012. Showing at the Beit Lessin Theater, this musical has been showing in the major theater capitals of the world, London and New York for twenty years.

On February 15, one of the greatest shows of Israel’s diverse cultural scene, the Belly Ensemble at the Arab-Hebrew Theater in Jaffa, will return.

The events in Sound of Winter will be taking place in venues varying from restaurants, cafes, and galleries, hotels, and hostels, private houses, cultural centers, and even obscure places such as hairdressers and printing shops. It is going to be a unique and vibrant cultural celebration, an amazing array of events in Jerusalem. Moving around to a different area of Jerusalem each week, the Sound of Winter will feature:

February 6, 2012: Bezelel, Schatz, Hahistradut, King George

February 13, 2012: Shushan, Koresh, Shlomtzion

February 20, 2012: Havatzalet, Yafo, Heleni Hamalcha

February 27, 2012: Aza, Metudela, Ben Maimon

The full range of events taking place can be found (in Hebrew) on the Facebook page of the event. Some of the highlights include. We will aim to add more events closer to the time:

• Uri Ramirez (an amazing folk singer) on 6 February at Abraham Hostel (event here)
• Red Eye Familiar performing on 6 February at Bass Club
• Eric Berman, a leading Israeli singer performing on 13 February.
• Eran Tzur on 27 February
• Alma Zohar on 27 February

For information about tickets for the Florentin Circus’s performances in Tel Aviv, click here. Prices are from 50NIS per person.

Clayderman’s concert in Jerusalem will take place at the Jerusalem Theater on March 1, in Tel Avi, at the Gesher Theater on March 2, and in Haifa, at the Haifa Auditorium on March 3. He will be supported throughout his visit by the Ra’anana Symphony Orchestra.

Ahead of the concert, lead singer Klaus Meine, told Israeli newspaper Ynet “we are so happy to return to our fans in Israel. The Israeli audience is very warm, and we’ll perform all of our greatest hits especially for them.” In their 45 year history, The Scorpions have released nearly 30 albums and sold over 100 million copies. They have had tens of notable hits including “Still Loving You”, “Wind of Change”, and “Send me an Angel”.