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Festivals and Events in Jerusalem

All Jewish festivals and religious holidays (like Sabbath) last 24 hours. They start and end the night before the next day at nightfall. Like the Muslim festival of Ramadan, Jewish religious festivals dates vary each year.

  • Half marathon in Jerusalem late March.
  • Pesach (Passover), during this week you cannot eat anything that is made with yeast (including bread and beer), the first and last days are public holidays.
  • Yom HaShoah, a day of remembrance of the victims of the Holocaust.
  • Independence Day in Israel, celebrations of the founding of Israel in 1948.
  • Israel Festival, every year in May and June, several parts of the city.
  • Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Day) celebrations of the reunification of Jerusalem and the return of the Jewish power in 1967.
  • Shavuot (Pentecost), Feast of Weeks and the giving of the Torah to the Jews.
  • Music Festival of Abu Gosh, every year on Shavuot and Sukkot, in the church of the Crusaders, Abu Gosh, west of Jerusalem.
  • Jerusalem Film Festival, July
  • Tisha B’Av (the ninth day of the Hebrew month of Av), a day of religious fasting in which the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, August, throughout the city is remembered.
  • Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year), October 4, throughout the city.
  • Ramadan, October 4-November 11, the nights of Ramadan are lively and colorful, with cafes open late and parties on the terraces.
  • Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), religious festival, October 13, throughout the city.
  • Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles), October 18, throughout the city.
  • Music Festival of Abu Gosh, every year on Shavuot and Sukkot, in the church of the Crusaders, Abu Gosh, west of Jerusalem.
  • Christmas Eve, December 24, in Christian neighborhoods.
  • Christmas Day, December 25, in Christian neighborhoods in the city.
  • Tu B’Shvat, annual celebration of nature, February 13, 2006, throughout the city.