Polish up your armor and lace up your bodices, m’lords and m’ladies, because the Jerusalem Knights Festival is icumen in, sing cuccu!
Every Thursday night from October 31 through November 21, between 18:00-23:00, Jerusalem’s Old City will revisit its Crusader past with shows, street theater and other cultural and artistic events inspired by the Middle Ages.
The organizers promise that this year’s Festival will be the largest yet, with dozens of new and spectacular features.
These include a tavern fit for a thirsty knight (or knave), music, theater, dancing, jigging, jousting, and an arts fair with blacksmiths, potters, glass blowers, jewelry, bags and more.
There will also be a unique project of period-inspired fashion, screenings of movie related to the Middle Ages, a storyteller’s tent, a spectacular fire show, live sculptures, a massive castle maze and singing performances in collaboration with the Israeli Opera. All events are free of charge.
The festival trail will wind through the Old City’s Christian Quarter, Armenian Quarter and circle the stone city walls. Visitors will be greeted by characters in historical dress, welcoming them to Jerusalem of 1000 years ago.
Mayor of Jerusalem Nir Barkat stated that the Festival is part of the city’s “cultural revolution [that] does not overlook the Old City, which comes to life at night and attracts visitors from Israel and abroad… It is a true encounter between Jerusalem of the past and that of today.”
Unlike the real Middle Ages — where life was famously “nasty, brutish and short” — the Jerusalem Knights Festival promises to be four fun evenings of fantasy fulfillment. So come on, gather the clan, put on your jester’s cap and get Medieval!
The festival is an initiative of the Jerusalem Development Authority, the Jerusalem Municipality, and Ariel, the municipal production company.
Knights festival 2013 in the Old City. Thursdays: 31/10, 07/11, 14/11, 21/11. For further details: Municipal hotline 106 or 02-5314600 or http://www.jerusalemknights.org.il/
Photo credits: Jerusalem Development Authority – iTravelJerusalem, Publicity: Mel Brickman, Levi Zussman.
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