Jerusalem Botanical Garden Winter Lights Festival

Published: DECEMBER 9, 2020 18:43

THE WINTER Lights Festival at the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens. (photo credit: SONIA FRENZEL) — THE WINTER Lights Festival at the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens.

(photo credit: SONIA FRENZEL)

The festival opens on Saturday night, December 12, and will continue through the end of the month.

There’s a glimmer of light to help close out 2020 despite the virtual house arrest imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Jerusalem Botanical Gardens will again light up this month for the annual Winter Lights Festival. The festival will cover three-and-a-half of the garden’s almost 30 acres, and include light displays, artists and actors in costume, food stands and more.

The festival opens on Saturday night, December 12, and will continue through the end of the month.

Jerusalem Affairs and Heritage Minister Rafi Peretz said he was excited to be part of the event.

“Opening the garden is a wonderful chance to get out in the open air and have a good time, in a safe and controlled way with your family,” he said.

Peretz called on the public to come and “fall in love again with the views, and support small businesses, while maintaining safety regulations and protecting our families and ourselves.”

The event will be held in accordance with Health Ministry coronavirus guidelines. Visitors must sign up for the event in advance, and will be asked to maintain distance from other visitors and avoid forming groups of more than 20 people.

The event is being presented by the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens, the Jerusalem Affairs and Heritage Ministry, the Jerusalem Municipality and the Jerusalem Development Authority.

The botanical garden reopened a number of months ago and is able to maintain coronavirus safety regulations, due in part to the size of the garden. It is the largest botanical garden in Israel, and the largest collection of living plants in the Middle East, with more than 6,400 species and varieties of plants from South Africa, Europe, North America, Australia, Southwest and Central Asia and the Mediterranean.