About 2025

About the Israel Festival

Held in Jerusalem for the 64th consecutive year, the Israel Festival is Israel’s leading international interdisciplinary cultural event. Characterized by a perennial spirit of regeneration and curiosity, precision and exploration, the festival is a staple of artistic excellence in Israel and around the world.
The artistic program presents original works in an

extraordinarily broad range of artistic and stage disciplines, showcasing new artistic trends and stage languages as well as outstanding classical pieces.

The festival serves as a unique platform for encounter and dialogue, championing freedom of artistic expression, tolerance and social, cultural and political diversity.

Over 35,000 cultural consumers, professionals, public opinion leaders, families and a loyal audiences visit the festival each year, and tens of thousands are exposed to the ripples of its activity throughout Israel.

The festival maintains close professional ties with other cultural organizations, art academies, social organizations, and various communities throughout Israel, advancing social awareness and educational, community, and environmental values.

Special attention is given to making the festival accessible to a wide range of audiences by subsidizing tickets for disadvantaged populations, people with special needs, the elderly, soldiers, students and more.

Past festival participants include Bill Forsythe, the Kirov Ballet, Peter Brook, Complicité, Zakir Hussein, Daniel Barenboim, Laurie Anderson, Boris Charmatz, The Trisha Brown Dance Company, Robert Wilson, Lucinda Childs, Romeo Castelluchi, Jan Fabre, Philippe Quesne, Angelica Liddel, Ensemble Modern, Julien Gosselin, Xavier Le Roy, Doris Uhlich, Wang Chong, Marlene Monteiro Freitas, Lina Lapelytė, Vaiva Grainytė, Rugilė Barzdžiukaitėand, Theo Mercier, Àlex Rigola and .many more

The festival is supported by the Ministry of Culture and Sports, Jerusalem Municipality, the Jerusalem Foundation, embassies and businesses, and is a member of the European Festivals Association and the Silk Road Association. Recepient of the EFFE Label,Europe’s quality stamp for remarkable arts festivals showing their engagement in the field of the arts, community involvement and international openness.

The Israel Festival 2025: A dream of recovery amidst the reality of war

A year has passed since the previous festival, and our reality is more complex, painful, and incomprehensible than ever. Once again, the term “festival” leaves a scar, and fundamental questions about the role of art rise and surface.

This year, we have expanded far beyond Jerusalem. In collaboration with many communities and artists, we are proud to come to Majdal Shams, in Kiryat Shmona, in Kibbutz Kfar Blum, and on the green lawn of Tel Hai College. At the same time, the festival will take place in the south – in Ofakim, in Kibbutz Urim, and in Kibbutz Tze’elim. For each of these sites, unique content has been selected that matches the spirit of the place and what it has been through.

This year’s festival stems from what is happening around us and within us. Its contents offer another perspective on our circumstances. At times, it takes a documentary perspective, and at other times, it is poetic and full of spirit. A point of view that allows us to open our eyes and look directly at our situation. Don’t look away. Don’t close your eyes.

We want to create a layered image; to spark a bit of light in the darkness, and add a touch of blue to all the red that surrounds us. To pause the flood of immediate thoughts, and make room for something else to come in. This is our humble offer. Our request. Our intention. Our prayer. A dream of recovery amidst the reality of war.

Board Members:
Adv. Inbar Afek, Chairwoman | Idit Amichay | Avi Balashnikov | Adv. Imry Ben-Ami | Adv. Gil Brandes | Orly Doron | Sofia Kavkova | Yossi Lubaton | Adv. Iris Pappo | Adv. Asaf Shariv |
Observer: Anat Gilead Audit Committee: Prof. Leah Achdut | Adv. Ruth Horn

Festival Team:
Eyal Sher, General Director | Michal Vaknin and Itay Mautner, Artistic Directors | Ori Vaknin, Chief Producer | | Eiv Kristal, Programme Manager and Artists Relations | Yael Gershon, Production & Hospitality Coordinator | Shlomit Peretz, Production Coordinator | Martin Cantor, Technical Advisor | Dina Ashkenazi, Accountant | Liora Mesilati, Marketing & Sales

PR: Lapidot Public Relations – Ora Lapidot, Adi Tzoref-Feldman
Graphic Design: Nomi Geiger, Efrat Shmuely, Yuval Nae, Studio Gimel2
Website: R2K – Rotem Tal, Khalil Jarban
Digital & Social Media: Brief
Sales: Divas and Gentlemen
Content Writing: Itay Mautner
English & Arabic Translation: Zikit
Tickets: Eventer
CPA: Avraham Bechar & Co.
Legal Counsel: Adv. Tamar Fineberg
Contoller: Ido Cnaan

The Israel Festival was founded by the late Aaron Zvi Propes.
With the support of the Ministry of Culture and Sport, the Jerusalem Municipality and the Jerusalem Foundation.