Balabasta- Party in the Shuk

It's festival season in Jerusalem. The one that we were most excited about is the Balabasta, Sunday evening events in the Shuk all of August.

Machane Yehuda is already probably my favorite thing about living here, and add in extra street performers and extra treats, what could be better? We went last Sunday night for the first part (it goes from 5pm and although officially ends around 9, Nina reports that there are unofficial parties that go on later) before Eitan's bedtime.

Many of the stalls had closed for the day already (rumor has it the stall owners hate these festivals and parties in the shuk which take away from the destination as a place to buy food, not hang out/mooch), and some had been taken over by makeshift vendors including fortune tellers, face painters and special treats, cotton candy, popcorn, etc. And there were little surprises down every aisle- capoeira dancers, clowns, mimes, a guy on a unicyle, it was a bit of everything, kind of like the food offerings during the day.

            
             
But the real draw of Balabasta is the performances. As we entered the open street of the shuk (as opposed to the covered aisles) we could hear music but couldn't see where a band was set up. Looking around and seeing the crowd standing and looking up- there they were. A band on top of a building. Brilliant. Also happening between buildings in the alley was some kind of performance with laundry ladies and a flower lady. Sounds crazy. Is crazy. And awesome.

Here's a clip:




Later on after the band went on break and the ladies retired to their buildings, another performance began a little down the street with huge statue puppet things. They freak Ami out to no end, he says they look like big giant zombies, but me and Eitan, we loved it. I think Nina was somewhere in between. There was statue dancing and people dancing, it was great. Eitan even got a high five from one of them.

Here's a bit of the Statue dancing: 



And of course, the treats. Because even amidst our general shuk grocery list for that day festivals mean treats, right? Okay, so nothing as exotic as deep fried butter, but still a treat is a treat. Nina and I shared a huge cotton candy. When was the last time I had real cotton candy? Omygosh it was so good and sugary! Ami had a big doughnut (doughnuts are usually only available around here Chanuka time), and Eitan got bites of everything. If you're here next Sunday, check it out- it's the last one. I might go back just for the cotton candy.