📅 Events Calendar

Six-month operator horizon for international tour operators — 20 September 2026 to 20 March 2027.

Last updated: 2026-09-20 08:45 Asia/Jerusalem · Cadence: Weekly — Sat 01:00 (ITIH26 — Weekly assets)

Key points

Yom Kippur begins at sunset today (Sunday 20 Sep) and ends at nightfall Monday 21 Sep. It is a total nationwide shutdown. Per the IAA Tishrei 2026 table, the Jordan crossings close early today (Allenby 11:00; Jordan River and Yitzhak Rabin 12:00) and stay closed on 21 Sep; Ben Gurion traditionally closes to scheduled traffic — confirm exact airline timings.
Sukkot follows immediately (25 Sep–2 Oct), then Simchat Torah (2–3 Oct). Chol HaMoed (27 Sep–1 Oct) is Israel’s busiest domestic-tourism week — treat parks, Masada, Ein Gedi and the Dead Sea corridor as sold-out-by-default. Jerusalem’s two mass events are fixed: the Jerusalem March (Mon 28 Sep) and Birkat Kohanim at the Western Wall (28 Sep & 1 Oct, ~09:30 and ~10:30).
Two corrections this run: the 42nd Haifa International Film Festival’s published screening schedule starts Friday 25 Sep (not 26 Sep) and runs to 3 Oct; and the Arthur Rubinstein Piano Master Competition row has been removed — the organizer’s site shows the 2026 competition took place 28 April–15 May 2026, so the “September finals” item carried on earlier cycles was not valid.
Confirmed anchors ahead: Tel Aviv Night Run 28 October 2026, Sigd 8–9 November, Hanukkah 4–12 December, Tiberias International Marathon 8 January 2027, and IMTM 2027 on 16–17 February at Expo Tel Aviv (re-verified this run).
Event information only — no ticketing or purchase links appear anywhere on this page.

Type legend: Religious Culture National Outdoor Trade | ⚠ = date to reconfirm with organizer

Calendar

Date	Event	Type	Region	Operator impact
2026-09-20 (sunset, today) to 2026-09-21 (nightfall)	Yom Kippur	Religious	Nationwide	Total nationwide shutdown begins at sunset today: all land border crossings close early today and stay closed 21 Sep (IAA Tishrei 2026 table — Allenby closes 11:00 today, Jordan River 12:00, Yitzhak Rabin 12:00; Taba reopens 22:00 on 21 Sep); Ben Gurion traditionally closes to scheduled traffic (⚠ no 2026-specific IAA airport bulletin posted at scan time — confirm times with airlines); no public transport or broadcast; businesses and restaurants closed; no private vehicle use on public roads. No arrivals, departures or ground touring should be scheduled until after nightfall Monday.
2026-09-24 to 2026-09-25	Golan Heights Winery Wine Festival, Katzrin	Culture	Northern Israel & Galilee	Winery wine-and-culture festival on the eve of Sukkot, as listed on the Tour Golan events board (last read 6 Sep; the board returned 403 to the automated fetch this run) — pairs with Golan harvest-season touring for groups already positioned in the north. Listing indicator only.
2026-09-25 (sunset) to 2026-10-02 (nightfall)	Sukkot	Religious	Nationwide	Hebcal-verified. First day (26 Sep) is a full-closure holiday; Chol HaMoed 27 Sep–1 Oct (dates confirmed in the IAA Tishrei table) is Israel’s busiest domestic-tourism week — pre-book national parks, Masada, Ein Gedi and the Dead Sea corridor, and expect heavy congestion on roads to the north and the Dead Sea. Allenby and Jordan River crossings are closed 26 Sep and run 08:00–18:30 / 08:30–18:00 during Chol HaMoed. West Galilee Tourism is promoting “Sukkot in the Galilee” programming.
2026-09-25 to 2026-10-03	Haifa International Film Festival (42nd)	Culture	Northern Israel & Galilee	Updated this run: the organizer’s published screening schedule runs from Friday 25 Sep to Saturday 3 Oct 2026 (last cycle’s reading was 26 Sep start). Screenings across Haifa theatres through Chol HaMoed; expect Carmel-area hotel pressure on top of holiday demand. ⚠ Not yet posted on the official Visit Haifa portal (site now redirects to visit-haifa.org; no festival dates listed)
2026-09-28	Jerusalem March (Sukkot)	National	Jerusalem	Confirmed in detail on the official Jerusalem portal (13 Sep read; event still listed this run): Monday 28 Sep, 07:00–16:00, three routes — 12 km from Givat Massuah (starts 07:00–09:00), 9 km from Ein Yael (07:30–09:30), 5 km from Safra Square (08:00–10:00) — converging on a festival at Sacher Park. Expect central-Jerusalem road closures and very heavy pedestrian traffic; brief guides and drivers accordingly.
2026-09-28 & 2026-10-01	Birkat Kohanim (Priestly Blessing), Western Wall	Religious	Jerusalem	Confirmed on the official Jerusalem portal: mass Priestly Blessing gatherings on 28 Sep and 1 Oct — Shacharit blessing ~09:30, Musaf blessing ~10:30; tens of thousands attend. Plan Old City access routes, security-screening time and fixed guide meeting points; avoid scheduling competing Old City visits at those hours.
Chol HaMoed Sukkot (27 Sep–1 Oct) ⚠ exact dates TBC	Tamar Festival (Dead Sea / Masada)	Culture	Dead Sea & Judean Desert	The official Dead Sea regional events page (re-read this run) confirms the festival runs annually during Chol HaMoed Sukkot at Masada National Park (open-air concerts, sunrise events) — pairs well with Dead Sea resort stays. Exact 2026 programme dates still not stated on that page.
Chol HaMoed Sukkot ⚠ program days TBC	Acre (Akko) Fringe Theatre Festival — reduced format	Culture	Northern Israel & Galilee	Israeli press reporting (22 Jul) indicated the festival would be held this Sukkot in a reduced format — mainly street performances and Acre Theatre Center productions. Expect Old City Akko pedestrian congestion during Chol HaMoed; program days still not published on an approved source this run.
2026-10-02 (sunset) to 2026-10-03 (nightfall)	Shemini Atzeret / Simchat Torah	Religious	Nationwide	Hebcal-verified. Closes the holiday cluster with a full-closure day; Allenby and Jordan River crossings closed 3 Oct (Hoshana Raba 2 Oct: Allenby 08:00–15:30). Transport and dining resume normal service from 4 Oct.
2026-10 to 2026-12 (season)	Hula Valley bird migration season	Outdoor	Northern Israel & Galilee	One of the world’s leading migratory bird-watching sites (cranes, pelicans, storks); dawn guided tours at Agamon HaHula are a strong add-on for autumn/winter Galilee itineraries. Peak weeks vary year to year — confirm with the site before finalising a departure date.
2026-10 (late) ⚠	TLVFest (Tel Aviv International LGBTQ Film Festival)	Culture	Tel Aviv & Central Coast	International film festival at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque, traditionally late October; relevant for LGBTQ-inclusive itinerary add-ons. 2026 dates not confirmed on an approved source this run.
2026-10-28	Tel Aviv Night Run	Outdoor	Tel Aviv & Central Coast	Wednesday 28 October 2026, start/finish on Rokach Boulevard between Yarkon Park and the Fairgrounds, staggered starts 20:00–21:10 (gates 18:00). Expect rolling evening road closures around the park district and heavy rail use at University Station; schedule subject to police approval.
2026-11-08 to 2026-11-09	Sigd	National	Jerusalem	Ethiopian-Jewish community holiday (Hebcal-verified 8–9 Nov) with a large public ceremony on Jerusalem’s Haas Promenade; a moving cultural moment worth including in Jerusalem itineraries around this date, with advance guide briefing.
2026-12-04 (sunset) to 2026-12-12	Hanukkah	Religious	Nationwide	Hebcal-verified. Eight-day Festival of Lights; not a closure holiday — candle-lighting is a strong evening-programme add-on (Old City Jerusalem, Tzfat), and Israeli school holidays lift domestic travel demand, tightening Galilee and Dead Sea accommodation.
2026-12 (Thu–Sat) ⚠	Holiday of Holidays, Haifa	Culture	Northern Israel & Galilee	Multicultural December-weekend festival across Haifa’s Wadi Nisnas and German Colony; a strong storytelling angle on coexistence for mixed-faith groups. The Visit Haifa portal lists a “Festival of Holidays” category but no 2026 weekends yet.
2026-12 (through month)	Christmas season — Nazareth, Bethlehem & Jerusalem	Religious	Northern Israel & Galilee / Jerusalem	Nazareth’s Christmas Market, Manger Square events in Bethlehem and a Jerusalem Christmas Market run through December; Christmas Eve (24 Dec) brings processions and Midnight Mass with associated road and pedestrian closures around the churches. West Galilee villages (Mi’ilya, Fassuta) also carry December Christmas programming.
2026-12-31	New Year’s Eve (Sylvester)	Culture	Tel Aviv & Central Coast	City-wide nightlife and countdown events in Tel Aviv; make restaurant and bar reservations well in advance and expect late-night transport demand spikes.
2027-01-08	Tiberias International Marathon (48th), Sea of Galilee	Outdoor	Northern Israel & Galilee	Friday 8 January 2027 — 42.2/21.1/10/5 km races from the Tiberias promenade on flat, certified lakefront courses. Expect lakefront road closures on race morning and elevated Tiberias hotel demand over race weekend.
2027-01-22 (eve) to 2027-01-23	Tu BiShvat 5787 (New Year for Trees)	National	Nationwide	Non-closure observance; tree-planting and nature programming (KKL forests, Galilee and Negev sites) make a light, family-friendly winter add-on. Normal transport and business hours.
2027-02-16 to 2027-02-17	IMTM 2027 — International Mediterranean Tourism Market	Trade	Tel Aviv & Central Coast	Re-verified on the organizer’s site this run: 16–17 February 2027 at Expo Tel Aviv; trade visitors Tue 10:00–17:00 and Wed 09:00–17:00, general public from 14:00 both days. Israel’s principal inbound-tourism trade show — book Tel Aviv hotels early for that week.
2027-02 (mid) ⚠	Red Sea Winter Jazz Festival, Eilat	Culture	Negev & Eilat	Winter jazz programme in Eilat, traditionally mid-February — a strong pairing with IMTM week for extended trade visits. Exact 2027 dates not yet on an approved source.

Beyond this horizon: Purim 5787 falls 22–23 March 2027 (23–24 March in walled cities such as Jerusalem) and will enter the calendar next cycle.

Analyst’s insight

This is the pivot week of the autumn season. Yom Kippur today and tomorrow is the one hard stop on the ITIH operating calendar: every Jordan land crossing closes (early today, all day Monday) and the airport traditionally stands down, so any group movements should already be positioned on one side of it. From Friday the calendar flips to maximum demand — Sukkot’s Chol HaMoed (27 Sep–1 Oct) is Israel’s busiest domestic-travel week, and this year it stacks three crowd drivers in the same five days: the Jerusalem March and the first Birkat Kohanim on Monday 28 Sep, the Haifa Film Festival across the Carmel, and the Tamar Festival at Masada. Operators should lock Dead Sea, Jerusalem and Haifa ground capacity now rather than during the holiday. For cross-border programmes, the IAA’s Tishrei table is now fully readable: Allenby and Jordan River close on each full holiday day (21 Sep, 26 Sep, 3 Oct) while Yitzhak Rabin (Eilat–Aqaba) stays open on Sukkot and Simchat Torah — a useful fallback routing for Petra combinations. Beyond the cluster the horizon is firm through February; this run also removed a stale Rubinstein item, keeping the ⚠ list to festival programmes that have not yet published.

⚠ Still to reconfirm on approved sources: Tamar Festival programme days; Haifa Film Festival on the Visit Haifa portal; Acre Fringe program days; TLVFest; Holiday of Holidays weekends; Red Sea Winter Jazz 2027; Ben Gurion Yom Kippur operating times (no 2026 IAA bulletin at scan). Sources unreachable to the automated fetch this run (fetch or site-side blocks, not outages): Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Culture & Sport portals (empty render), Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality (472), Tour Golan (403), Habama (406), Haaretz Gallery and Eventim (robots). Read this run: GoIsrael (loads directly again), Hebcal, IMTM, iTravelJerusalem, Visit Haifa, Negev Highlands, West Galilee, Shvoong, Israel Athletics Association, Sport5. Full per-source audit trail in latest.json / latest.md in the ITIH-Wordpress-Project Drive folder.

Sources: GoIsrael — events, Israel Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Culture & Sport, IMTM Tel Aviv (trade show), Hebcal — Jewish calendar (Israel setting), Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality — events guide, iTravelJerusalem (official Jerusalem), Visit Haifa, Negev Highlands Tourism (Har HaNegev), West Galilee Tourism (Zman Galil), Tour Golan, Haaretz Gallery / Achbar Ha’ir (listings), Habama, Shvoong, Israel Athletics Association, Sport5 / ONE (fixtures), Eventim / Zappa (event indicators)