Israeli parks fill to capacity on Shavuot
Masses of Israelis take the Shavuot holiday to explore Israel's natural areas, leading to overcrowding, traffic.
Shavuot, coming exactly seven weeks after Passover, is the holiday which celebrates the day when the Jews received the Torah on Mt. Sinai, thereby becoming a unified nation. It is also celebrated as the holiday when the first wheat harvest is carried out. Dairy products such as cheesecake, cheese blintzes, sambusak, siete cielos cake, and other dairy foods are traditionally eaten on the holiday.
Approximately 40,000 people were at beaches around the Sea of Galilee by the afternoon hours.In one of the more ingenious schemes to keep the Sea of Galilee clean, employees at Dugit beach gave trash bags to families, and any family which collected three bags full of garbage would receive free parking.
Meanwhile, Dor Beach next to Zikhron Yaakov was closed due to overcrowding.
Ein Gedi Nature Reserve Manager Dudi Greenbaum said, “It’s always packed in Ein Gedi. Regardless, it’s always crowded. It’s always full of people.” He went on to say that at least 2,000-3,000 people arrive daily to visit the reserve.
On Saturday, some 100,000 people visited national parks and nature reserves around the country. Particularly arge crowds were spotted at Yarkon Park in Tel Aviv, Gan Hashlosha National Park, Achziv National Park and HaBonim Park in Jerusalem.
Holiday activities included a rodeo show at Kibbutz Merom Golan followed by a dairy-centric feast. Another holiday feast is due to take place on Sunday at 17:30 in the fields of Moshav Kfar Yehoshua.
The city of Karmiel hosted its annual exhibit of rare automobiles. Some 10,000 visitors attended the exhibit, which included hundreds of cars and motorcycles.
