Festival of Festivals!

Moving North through the country, we stopped in the city of Haifa, Israel. This city was smaller than Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, but I think it was my favourite.

The highlights of this city for us were the Festival of Festivals, and the Baha’i Gardens.

The Festival of Festivals is a celebration of all religious holidays, including Ramadan, Hanukkah and Christmas. It is different here because instead of celebrating their holidays separately, everyone celebrates each others’ holidays together as one large community.  It lasts for the whole month of December, with activities every weekend. When we arrived, the first thing we saw was a whole group of people using chalk to colour the cordoned off street.  Along with drawings of flowers, people, and other things, there were messages wishing people Happy Holidays in different languages. It was really interesting because although Israel is predominantly a Jewish country, this city celebrates all the religious holidays. We were able to see signs of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity all around, even on a roundabout.

A girl in a Santa hat in the market

The three symbols next to the Arab Jewish center

The three symbols on a roundabout

As a part of the festival, there was a huge market. People were selling many things like nuts, fruits, juices, cakes, baked potatoes, toys, halva, and potato chips on a stick. The chips on a stick was really neat because to make them, the potatoes are skewered, peeled, cut into one big thin slice around the skewer, fried and finally sold.

Nuts being sold

A table of goodies

Not sure what these are, but they look amazing!

Mmm! Baked potatoes!

Potato chips on a stick

Cutting the potato

Other things could be seen as well, like performers playing music and a street performer pretending to be in a painting, which I thought looked really neat. It was interesting to see how busy the market was on the Saturday because in Jerusalem, not a lot of people are out as it is the Jewish Sabbath.

A performer playing a didgeridoo

A lady in a painting

As we were leaving the market, we were stopped by a parade coming down the street. There were a couple of scout groups in their uniforms playing the drums, Santa Claus, and people dressed up in traditional Israeli clothing. I thought the girls’ outfits were really pretty. I wonder if the different cities have their own clothing because I had never seen these outfits before.

The first group of scouts

Another group playing the drums

Santa Claus in the parade

The beautiful Israeli outfits

After visiting the market and festival, we went to see the Baha’i Gardens. The gardens are a mix of beautiful flower beds, neatly trimmed lawns, lots of fountains, and nineteen terraces leading to the big shrine with a golden dome. This is the main place of importance for the Baha’i religion, which focuses on the world uniting and getting along with each other. One thing I like about the gardens is it’s peaceful environment with the only sound is the water in the fountains, the birds chirping, and the cars driving by. I think this would be a great place to sit and read a book (or two). Another thing I find interesting is anyone can enter the gardens for free with no reservation. I think the gardens could make a lot of money if they charged people to go in, but sharing with others is more important.

One of the gorgeous fountains

The view form the entrance of the gardens

Us in front of the golden dome

If I were living in Israel, I think I would like to live in Haifa. I like the a small town feel, the happy atmosphere, the harmony of the religious groups, and there aren’t soldiers all over the place with big guns. Haifa is truly a beautiful city and I would love to go back again someday.