Sometimes it seems to me that Haifa has become addicted to the concept of "festival city."
If Tel Aviv is the city of startups, Jerusalem – the holy city, Holon – the city of children and Netanya – the city of sports, Haifa is trying hard to become a “city full of festivals.” But while other cities have built their identity around permanent and ongoing focal points such as technology, history and culture, in Haifa everything relies on short-lived events, which will lose all relevance as soon as the spotlights go out (at the latest at 21:00 PM, because that’s the middle of the night for us).
Do giant festivals build culture, or the opposite?
The Festival of Lights, the Food Festival, the Beer Festival, the Children's Play Festival, the Sand Castle Festival... Every few months the city is painted with colors, sounds, and stages. The productions sparkle, the Instagram photos glow, and the mayor boasts a magnificent "urban culture." Perhaps we should ask ourselves whether the giant festivals are building culture, or on the contrary: erasing real, authentic culture?
A rich and diverse heritage
It would be fine if we were a completely new city searching for its way. But who has a richer and more diverse heritage than Haifa?
The pioneering workers' city, which combines a built-in multiculturalism, between the sea and the mountain. Where else but here, are pearls of poetry, literature, and original art created? (And no, the "Holiday of Holidays" is a perfect example of a "festival" consisting of Christmas lights on several tourist restaurants, along one road, with vendors shouting and playing music amidst traffic jams of cars with blaring exhausts.)
Culture is not born under a glittering spotlight. It grows in the most humble places: in neighborhood libraries, galleries, theater groups, or on the stages of community centers and neighborhood initiatives. Real culture is built quietly, consistently, and with determination, not on a huge stage that disappears after a week just as quickly as it appeared.
Someone who is truly interesting doesn't have to scream to be seen.
The big money goes to lighting, security, and decor, and perhaps that's a budget that could be invested in building solid foundations for the city's culture. At the same time, city libraries are closing, music clubs are disappearing from community centers, and local artists are left behind and struggling for their existence.
Sparkling festivals are mainly intended for public relations and social media posts designed to shout:
"Look what a sonic city we are!"
It's not much different than someone trying to scream their "coolness" in flashy clothes every time they walk down the street, instead of just being cool quietly and confidently. After all, someone who is truly smart or interesting doesn't need to scream to be seen.
The real cultural life
Haifa's true culture doesn't need flash. It is built within the community, in daily routines and in places that don't receive public attention. There, under the radar, the city's true cultural life is created. The money invested in short-term celebrations comes at the expense of these initiatives. The question is not what festival we will manage to bring this year, but what culture will remain here tomorrow.
A momentary celebration or a strengthening of culture?
Festivals may provide a momentary celebration, but do they actually build culture? Real culture exists in the humble places, the ones that don't make the headlines. What do we really want? Another flashy show that will disappear after a few days, or culture that will be a part of our lives and accompany us all year long? Does Haifa need another flashy event, or perhaps an investment in lasting culture?
And maybe I'm wrong? What do you think?
Cancel all festivals, give the money to renovate ruined and closed cultural buildings, there are about 10 in the city.. All cultural institutions are desperate for budgets to restore the dying culture in the city instead of just posting huge signs, huge posters and advertising in the media – that's how you buy flattering media with lots and lots of money to advertise what? Advertising festivals, conferences and events. Hand shaking hands.
Readers are not naive. This is how Gimlaida and the Haifa Education Conference were born, along with other "initiatives" whose sole purpose is to transfer millions of shekels to advertisers "legitimately" but as a way to skew coverage of the failed mayor.
Einat walked with the banner of "A municipality should not entertain the masses" and was kidnapped.
Because old Jonah has accustomed the unfortunate residents of Haifa to entertainment for the masses.
Bread and fun always trump reason.
I have nothing against festivals.
True, it's mostly PR, but it's important to be on the map.
But you are absolutely right. Haifa's community culture is neglected and not given proper attention.
See, for example, the municipality's indifference to the issue of the disappearance of "popular" cinema.
Right. It's not that I'm against festivals as much as I'm for the local benefits. If it were enough, I wouldn't say anything.
Popular cinema is not community culture.
It is a small, old-fashioned private cinema business.
He never did any community activities.
The holiday of holidays should be canceled. It is a Christian celebration only that aims to impose a foreign culture of Christian countries on the State of Israel. Do not confuse Hanukkah with churches and Santa dolls. Putting up a Christmas tree is an affront to the identity of the Jewish people and the State of Israel. Christians who will put it in their windows. The municipality does not celebrate any Jewish holiday, so do not celebrate the Christian one under the guise of a festival. There is no Hanukkah celebration during the holiday of holidays. So it is a lie to say that it is a joint festival, a complete lie, and therefore it is only in the colony and Wadi Nisnas near a concentration of churches and Christians.
It's not even Christian. I've been to Christmas celebrations in London and Paris. With pleasant Christmas music on speakers among the trees. Not blaring from small speakers from vendors.
The holiday of holidays is special and unique to Haifa, even though there are many churches in Jerusalem and Jaffa. Many choirs participate in concerts, not just in churches, bringing classical art music closer to the culture-hungry Haifa audience, who for a change do not have to travel to Tel Aviv or Jerusalem.
Thank you, Eli. Thank you for bringing this to my attention.
Calling Haifa the city of festivals is a mockery of the city and there are many more festivals in Yerushalayim than in Haifa, and I'm not talking about the content.
Thanks, Uncle. Maybe, but "we're in good company" in this area is not something I think we want to tell ourselves.
Maybe it's worth increasing the number of festivals that are really worth something, festivals of local art and activity within the city - then they can proudly call it the city of festivals.
You wrote well, but you repeated arguments instead of examining the neglect of culture and cultural structures, which are hidden behind the auspices of a few short and hollow festivals whose main purpose is to import 'celebrity' culture and artists from the state of Tel Aviv to Haifa for a short time (like the Independence Day and the High Holidays).
Let's take museums that are closed like Mana Katz, instead of building a new and magnificent cultural center there that is integrated into the museum, the place is closed. Next to it has been the Mintz House Library, which burned down and was closed for 7 years. Next to them, in the Panorama Towers, an area on the upper promenade designated for public activity stands empty, and the upper promenade has been fenced off and stolen from the public. Next to these three, in the Mother Garden, the Biological Institute and the Museum of Prehistoric Man are empty from decades of activity. Next to them, the Mother Garden with an old, crumbling shell, and above the avenue of shops, a ruined, broken upper promenade.
This is the culture of the city. A city that allows itself to advertise shoddy events and nothingness festivals for millions of shekels at the expense of real investment and, as you have written over time and systematically – just drives full throttle in neutral.
Thanks Eyal.
I really agree with the writer.
The populism of this municipal administration embarrasses us residents who have something left in the box.
There is no culture in Haifa today.
I can't say you're wrong because you haven't said anything of substance. Festivals are a world wide way of celebrating a country's or city's heritage and history. What do you see as a way to showcase our culture? In fact, what is our culture? Is it Arab life? Russian, maybe one of the ?other ethnic minorities? How does my Bedouin neighbor who's lived here for 30 years fit in
Hi Tina, Thanks for taking the time to comment. I have nothing against festivals per se. On the contrary, they can be a wonderful way to celebrate a city's or country's history and heritage. However, they must represent the local and diverse culture that exists within them, and not become a means to import foreign, contentless festivals from other places, sometimes at the expense of the local culture. A good example of this is the Bat Galim Festival, which emphasizes local character through neighborhood paintings and other elements.
As you mentioned, our cultural identity is complex and includes a human mosaic of neighbors, such as the Bedouin who has lived in Haifa for 30 years. Our identity is composed of a living and breathing fabric of cultures, not a consumer product imported from the outside. Therefore, I propose that we focus on creating festivals of local art, which provide a stage for Haifa-based artists from all fields: music, photography, plastic arts, poetry, and cinema. This is art that has grown and been created here, representing all the cultures that exist in the city. By doing so, we can build a sustainable model of festivals that are not just a fleeting show, but a continuous process of building a shared cultural identity.
Every word is true, but this is the dominant "culture" today – visibility, loudness, and advertising.