Winter Noise in Jerusalem

Jerusalem, Israel has festivals:

Light Festivals, Sound Festivals, Knight Festivals,

and in February,  שאון חורף  or the Winter Noise festival.

It happens on four Mondays nights in February,

each time in a different location, and it lasts

until the wee hours of the morning.

This year the final event was on Azza Street.

Along the 20 stops of the route

there were hula hoops,

 a man selling hats next to a fire juggler,

and these ‘what-ever they are’ characters.

Lectures were in the pizza shop,

and in the drug store too.

Each venue had people lined up to get inside.

The book store was open and people inside.

There was classical music

with Capoeira across the road,

and more musicians down the way.

Around the corner on Ben Maimon Street

was a stage for entertainment until almost dawn.

Singer Zion Golan had a stage and crowd in the small Azza Park,

and the #9 bus had trouble getting by the crowd

that was listening to piyutim on the corner of Metudela.

People were drinking, eating,

enjoying, and just strolling,

next to buildings illuminated

with colorful lights.

I heard someone talking about the “Magic Carpet”

and I thought I had missed something.

Cute photo I thought, but what are they doing?

What selfie was he taking?

Only when I got home and saw all the photos

 did I realize that the man sitting on ground

in front of the green background screen

was the same man whose image was projected

on the wall across the street, flying on the magic carpet.

Wow.

So clever.

Never know what you will find on

or flying over the Jerusalem, Israel streets.