Hot, sweaty Thursday nights in August (the best night in Israel!) now include the Sea of Galilee in their ranks. All through this month – yes, that means tonight, the 6th, the 13th, 20th and 27th – you really should check out the Kinneret White Night Festival (Kinneret is the Hebrew name for the Sea of Galilee), especially if you’re in or around the area.
Organizers of the Festival promise that once the sun sets, the valley will come to life (the Kinneret sits in the Jordan Valley) with a whole range of unique events. And some of those events do sound tempting, especially as they all take place “after hours” in the moonlight – we’ve picked out eight of the best but there are many more:
- Feeding crocodiles by torchlight at the famous croc park Hamat Geder (at the southern end of the Sea of Galilee). Take your mother-in-law along too. Just in case. The fun starts at 7:30pm, though feeding (of the crocs, not your mother-in-law) is at 9pm.
- Building and then sailing your own wooden catamarans on the Sea of Galilee at night (starts 11pm), at Kibbutz En Gev (on the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee).
- Moonlit walking history tours of the Galilee, based around Bet Yerah at the southern end of the Sea of Galilee (starts at 10:30pm).
- Goats aplenty at Moshav Menanhamiya (south of the Sea of Galilee) – milk them, pet them and even make yourself a goat’s cheese sandwich (starts at 7:30pm).
- Take a moonlit guided tour through Jordan Park (at the northern end of the Sea of Galilee, starts at 10:30pm).
- A tasting and hands-on family workshop – all based on chocolate, at Kibbutz Daganya Bet (located at the southern tip of the Sea of Galilee, starts at 11pm).
- For couples only: sail out on the Sea of Galilee in an Indian-type canoe (apparently somewhere “next to the Sea of Galilee”, starts at 9:30pm).
- Bake your own bread in a special bread workshop at Kibbutz Gesher (actually quite a bit south of the Sea of Galilee – starts at 7:30pm).
Here’s a little map of the Sea of Galilee area, just to give you an idea of where to go (the blue numbers relate to the numbered list above):
For further details, check out the Hebrew website (no English unfortunately): http://www.kinneret.info/. If you can work out the Hebrew, or get someone to help you, there are a number of packages that combine two or three of the above listed events for a special price. Worth checking out!