Thousands of people attended the opening of the
Jerusalem Festival of Light in the Old City last night.
It is one of my favorite events to photograph
so I arrived at Jaffa Gate early, before sunset .
There were three colored trails to follow,
I started with the “Orange Trail”
which went past The Tower of David and through
the Armenian Quarter along the Armenian Patriarch Street.
Workers were finishing up the large art piece “Faces of Jerusalem.”
A series of lights called the “Light Line” lined Misgav Ladach Street
and ended at the harp-shaped, “The Visual Piano.”
It was hard to photograph, but impressive to hear and see.
At sunset, both the lights at the Kotel, the Western Wall,
and the views of the area are a favorite even without art light displays.
In the Rova, the plaza of the Jewish Quarter,
there was a fascinating piece called “Meeting Composition.”
It changed with the motion of people under it.
From the Jewish Quarter I picked up the “Blue Trail.”
Last year I was so impressed with performers using fire torches
that I watched for a long time and took dozens of photos.
Last year they were on a small side street,
but this year they were a main attraction in Muristan Square.
Determined to see all the routes, I did not stay to watch,
but started on the “Green Trail.”
There was a light coming from the Mosque of Omar,
but the sign says “For Prayers Only”.
The “Green Trail” went through areas of the Old City
where I usually do not go, certainly not alone at night.
So when the green lights stopped here, I stopped…
until an Israeli woman passed me and said to keep going to Damascus Gate.
Really good advice!
While recently the Damascus Gate has been in the news as a site of protests,
tonight it was lit up as a giant pinball machine.
Along the walls on the way back to Jaffa Gate were “Light Benches”
and this piece which can only appreciated in video.
At the Jaffa Gate the “Cupola” was bright inside and out.
Inside there was a couple dancing to the music,
while people were looking up
and many were taking photos.
Jerusalem, the light of the world.
These are just a few of my favorites from “Light in Jerusalem.”
I have to leave you some surprises, as the event runs until June 14.
If you cannot make it to Jerusalem, Israel this year…
more photos posted on
The Real Jerusalem Streets Facebook page
Beautiful! I’m planning to go next week, thanks for the teaser.
oh, do I miss Jerusalem! Thanks for these photos, but Damascus Gate lit up like a pinball machine? That was a bit tacky, don’t ya think?
Perhaps tacky, but certainly loud and quite clever. I took a one minute video,
but it appeared dark when posted, so I removed it from the blog.
Here is the link: http://youtu.be/Tvu7vJ-tu8c
if you are interested in seeing Press Ball in action.
this is so beautifyul. my dream and passion is to go to Israel one day. my heart and spirit wants to go home
Thank you, hope you can come and see for yourself the real Jerusalem, Israel!
Beautiful. Thanks for sharing. Shared with a friend who is there now. If they haven’t gone yet I’m sure they will now!
Thanks glad you liked it… The Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs shared it on their Facebook page.
Thanks for the video of the pinball machine and the other things on the blue and green trails. We went a few nights ago but my wife wasn’t feeling well so we went home after seeing the orange trail. (And yes, the visual piano was AMAZING!).
The faces display was also pretty neat – it had a big crowd of people watching and taking video. The blank face you have was illuminated with different faces, each of which for only a second or two. The transitions between each face weren’t done all at once – they sometimes transitions feature by feature until you had a completely new face, with various bizarre intermediate faces. Some of the faces looked like normal faces, some were clearly doctored (like the people with blue or green skin). It was all set to a somewhat bizarre musical score. I forgot my camera or I would share a video.
You are so right, I saw what they did with that face – brilliant work! last year I was so taken with the couple and fire torches,that I missed a lot. This time I was determined to finish the trails, but to do so I had to really rush.
So… did you pay a shiva call to the neighbors???
No, I never did. I totally chickened out.
I LOVE your blog! The light festival was wonderful wasn’t it? The Pinball Machine was terrific but I felt that the rest of the green trail could have been missed. The Orange Trail ROCKED!
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