For the beer lovers among you, get yourselves over to Jerusalem tomorrow (and Thursday) evening for the fifth annual Jerusalem Beer Festival. With over 100 types of beer to taste from around the world, including some from Israel, it might be a good idea to stop over in Jerusalem for the night!
The Beer Festival is over at Jerusalem’s Independence Park, which is being converted into a huge bar to cater for the 100,000 liters of beer expected to be poured. Some of the beers on display include Beamish (from Ireland), Belhaven (from Dunbar in Scotland), Martens (from Belgium), John Smith (from Yorkshire, England), and of course Goldstar (Israel’s premier beer).
The crowd is expected to be young, the music pumping (including guest appearances from Hadag Nachash and Pshutey Ha’am together with Muki), and the beer will certainly be flowing…in many flavors (er, strawberry flavored beer anyone?)!
As well as the beer, you’ll also be able to enjoy a whole variety of foods, arts and crafts stands selling all sorts of accessories, plus a live demo of how beer is actually made. A great night out methinks.
Whatever you’ve got to say about alcohol, it looks like Beer Festivals in Israel are here to stay. We are definitely for them, as the whole entertainment package that revolves around festivals of these type, at least in Israel anyway, makes for a great night out. And as more and more tourists visit Israel, these festivals become tourist magnets, which isn’t a bad thing at all. It sure helps to preserve Israel’s “happening” reputation.
The last few years have certainly seen a big increase in these types of festivals. OK, it might not be as big as the Oktoberfest in Germany, which attracts millions of visitors, but Tel Aviv hosts at least one big beer fest every year, while last week it was the turn of Haifa and the annual Goldstar Beer Festival. Ten years ago these beer festivals just didn’t exist in Israel; in fact, if you’d have given most Israelis a glass of beer, most would have looked at it disdainfully, some would have laughed thinking it was a particularly strong blend of tea, while those willing enough to drink it would have been dancing on the table after half a glass.
So yes, we love these festivals and the increasing amount of alcohol seen as socially acceptable in Israel (don’t worry, Israel is a looong way off from becoming the equivalent of a Boozy Britain, at least in my opinion). May many more festivals take place!
The Jerusalem Beer Festival is open from 6pm to 11:45pm. If you get there before 6:30pm you can get in for free. After that it costs 25 shekels (20 if you’re a student).
And yes, after writing this I’m off to the fridge for a beer…
L’Chaim! (Cheers!)