Ariel Sharon Park encourages music, dance and art to celebrate "passage of park from waste-shedding to central location."
By SHARON UDASINRevamped Hiriya landfill 311(photo credit: Albatross Aerial Photography)
Encouraging musical performances, dance, theater and artwork, the Ariel Sharon Park Company is determined to transform the former Hiriya garbage dump into a “mountain of culture.”Huge shows, intimate performances, dance, theater, art, film and culinary experiences in nature will take place atop the mountain against the Tel Aviv skyline, in ways “never seen before,” according to the park company.During the remainder of the summer, performers such as Sarit Hadad, Shlomi Shaban, Moshe Peretz, Arkadi Duchin, Berry Sakharof, Shimon Buskila and Shiri Maimon will be gracing the blooming cultural oasis with their shows, a statement from the park said.Ariel Sharon Park extends over an area of about 800 hectares and has recently become “a green lung” for the region.The mountain, which the park company calls “the last percentage of remaining open space in the heart of the Greater Tel Aviv metropolitan region,” will begin displaying art, hosting performances and arranging all kinds of cultural events on its 70-meter peak beginning next Wednesday, and will be open to the public. The performances will be on the mountain observation deck, where visitors can enjoy a 360-degree panoramic view of the Tel Aviv region and enjoy local drinks at a bar, the park statement said.The opening concert will be led by Shlomi Shaban on acoustic piano, followed by a performance the next day by Arkadi Duchin, which will likewise bring piano sounds to the cliff-side deck. Berry Sakharof will play on August 29, and the first amphitheater show at Hiriya will feature Shiri Maimon and Shimon Buskila on September 5. Sarit Hadad will launch her new album atop the mountain on September 20.“The opening of music and cultural events at Ariel Sharon Park celebrates the passage of the park from a waste-shedding site to a central location that is a magnet for high-quality events and activities,” said Esti Appelbaum Polani, chairwoman of Ariel Sharon Park.Appelbaum Polani noted that the park can accommodate thousands of visitors from all segments of the population, allowing it to become “the new cultural center of the Dan metropolitan region.”Moshe Borochov, CEO of the park, said he expects the new cultural additions to attract many new visitors to the park, providing them with exposure to “the tremendous changes that have occurred there in the past two years” and enabling them “to enjoy a wonderful combination of landscape, nature and culture together.”
