What's on in Tel Aviv, Israel through the year

Quiet — school holidays in 6 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

• Rule

  Shabbat shutdown

  1 Jan – 31 DecClosures

  Buses and trains stop on Friday afternoon and restart on Saturday night, and a lot of the country shuts with them. Tel Aviv is the exception that still runs restaurants, beaches and sherut taxis. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Tel Aviv Marathon, Purim

• Festival

  Tel Aviv Marathon

  15 Feb – 10 Mar · usuallyMajor festivalCrowdedClosures

  Run on a Friday in late winter along the promenade and through the parks, because by April it is already too warm for it. The seafront roads close from before dawn until early afternoon. Source ↗

• Festival

  Purim

  20 Feb – 25 Mar · usuallyMajor festivalCrowded

  The one night the city dresses up and drinks in the street; Florentin and the Rothschild end of town are the centre of it, and the parties run to daylight. The date moves with the Hebrew calendar. Source ↗

Still on: Shabbat shutdown (1 Jan – 31 Dec)

Peak crowds — Tel Aviv Marathon, Purim

• Holiday

  Passover week

  1–9 AprSchool holidaysCrowdedClosures

  The country takes the week off and half of it comes to the beach. Rates peak, buses and trains stop on the first and last days, and bakeries and plenty of kitchens shut for the duration. Source ↗

Still on: Shabbat shutdown (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Tel Aviv Marathon (15 Feb – 10 Mar (usually)), Purim (20 Feb – 25 Mar (usually))

Busy — Passover week, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

• Hazard

  Sharav heat spikes

  1 Apr – 5 Jun · usuallyDust season

  A desert wind pushes in for two or three days at a time in spring, taking the humidity down and the temperature up, sometimes with dust off Sinai. It breaks as fast as it arrives. Source ↗

Still on: Shabbat shutdown (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Passover week (1–9 Apr)

Busy — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, one of its best months for weather

• Season

  Swimming season

  15 May – 15 NovSea warm enough

  The sea is comfortable without a wetsuit from about mid-May to mid-November, and the lifeguard towers work to that calendar. October is the local secret: warm water, empty sand, no queue for a chair.

Still on: Shabbat shutdown (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Sharav heat spikes (1 Apr – 5 Jun (usually))

Busy — Tel Aviv Pride, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Tel Aviv Pride

  12 JunCrowdedBook earlyClosures

  A Friday parade along the seafront drawing six figures, with a week of events either side and the city's hotel stock gone by spring. Meir Park to the beach closes to traffic for the day. Source ↗

• Hazard

  Jellyfish swarms

  20 Jun – 10 Aug · usuallyInsect season

  Nomad jellyfish move up the coast from the south around the end of June and are usually gone by early August. Swarms sit off a stretch of beach for a few weeks; locals check a tracking site before they swim. Source ↗

Still on: Shabbat shutdown (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Sharav heat spikes (1 Apr – 5 Jun (usually)), Swimming season (15 May – 15 Nov)

Shoulder season — school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Hazard

  Late-summer humidity

  15 Jul – 10 Sep · usuallyExtreme heat

  The sea keeps the temperature off the extremes and puts the moisture back in; the city sweats through August and does its walking after dark. Air conditioning is not optional in the old south. Source ↗

Still on: Shabbat shutdown (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Swimming season (15 May – 15 Nov), Jellyfish swarms (20 Jun – 10 Aug (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Shabbat shutdown (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Swimming season (15 May – 15 Nov), Jellyfish swarms (20 Jun – 10 Aug (usually)), Late-summer humidity (15 Jul – 10 Sep (usually))

Peak crowds — Yom Kippur, Sukkot week

• Holiday

  Yom Kippur

  20–21 SepJewish holidaysClosures

  Twenty-five hours with no cars anywhere, no shops open and no flights in or out of the country. Children ride bicycles down the Ayalon motorway, which is the strangest and best thing this city does all year. Source ↗

• Holiday

  Sukkot week

  25 Sep – 2 OctSchool holidaysCrowded

  The autumn school holiday, and the beach is still warm enough to use, so the city fills again for a week. Booths appear outside restaurants and on balconies across the older neighbourhoods. Source ↗

Still on: Shabbat shutdown (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Swimming season (15 May – 15 Nov), Late-summer humidity (15 Jul – 10 Sep (usually))

Busy — Sukkot week, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Shabbat shutdown (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Swimming season (15 May – 15 Nov), Yom Kippur (20–21 Sep), Sukkot week (25 Sep – 2 Oct)

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in November.

Still on: Shabbat shutdown (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Swimming season (15 May – 15 Nov)

Quiet — school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Shabbat shutdown (1 Jan – 31 Dec)