001 Club Magdalena
Young music fans in Tel Aviv were ever more delighted as they clutched their phones with surprise. It was in the early morning hours of one of the not very cold days of late January 2025. The winter in Israel tends to be mild and with few rainy days (plus, climate change is upon us, but that’s a story for another time).
Picture this: Tel Aviv, early morning. Thousands of pop music fans are spitting out their morning coffee as they check their phones. According to Spotify, not one, not two, but THREE of the world's biggest pop stars - Katy Perry, Lana Del Rey, and Olivia Rodrigo - are all headed to perform at Club Magdalena in Tel Aviv on April 17th.
Though Tel Avivians have gotten used to big names coming to perform in Israel, this has become a bit problematic recently, so such a newsflash was somewhat hard to believe. Screenshots from the music app, declaring the supposedly daring move by three internationally renowned pop singers, were passed via Whatsapp in all directions. It seemed too good to be true. And, very quickly - it turned out to be just that.
Club goers in Tel Aviv were the first to point out that the proclaimed venue - Club Magdlena - closed its doors almost a decade ago. Was it suddenly reopening to host this dream lineup? The fact that the club still showed on Google maps was somewhat persuasive, but if you were curious enough to check their facebook page, you saw that their latest post was uploaded back in 2016 - that’s back when Katy Perry famously endorsed Hillary Clinton in her bid to become president!
Surely no one had started planning their outfits for this event, but a big online conversation sparked up, with Tel Avivians dreaming of a club making its comeback in a special event bringing together three international superstars with a combined Instagram followership totalling 260 million - approximately 26 times the entire population of Israel. Compared to Katy Perry’s 200 million and Olivia Rodrigo’s 40 million, Lana Del rey’s 20 million makes her the least followed, and still her fan base is bigger than the worldwide Jewish population, which is just shy of 16 million souls.
Spotify had essentially created a digital mirage of a concert - a pop culture Fata Morgana floating somewhere above the Mediterranean, which turned out to be just a glitch in the matrix.
I was thinking about this as I was headed back home from a tour I guided in the Neve TZedek neighbourhood, passing by the place where this magic trio was, in phantasy, going to perform. My name is Tomer Chelouche and I’ve been guiding tours in Tel Aviv since 2008. I started out of fascination with my family history - the Chelouche family was one of the founding families of Tel Aviv. My ancestors built this city - and I’m telling its story.
The best way to get to know Tel Aviv better is by purchasing one of my audio tours. Here’s one way to do just that -
Roger’s House is a backpackers’ guesthouse located near the Neve TZedek neighbourhood. Prices are more affordable and the atmosphere is perfect for young solo travellers. After a goodnight sleep, either in one of the dormitory rooms or in a private room (depending on your budget and your preference), you head out towards the coffee places on the adjacent Railway Park.
Coffee cup in hand - hopefully, the reusable kind - you cross the park to enter the alleyway taking you straight towards the Suzanne Dellal Centre for the performing arts - the beating heart of Neve TZedek and the starting point for my audio tour of this neighbourhood. The story of Neve TZedek started back in 1887, even before Tel Aviv was founded. It was the first Jewish neighbourhood outside the walls of ancient Jaffa.
You can make sure you’ve downloaded my Neve TZedek audio tour before you head out, or you can download it on the go if you’re set with a data package allowing for uninterrupted internet access. There’s a link in the show notes to purchase my audio tour - Picturesque Neve Tzedek: A Tour around Israel’s Petit Paris. In this one I also share the story of my ancestors, who came to the Land of Israel in the 1840’s to settle in Jaffa and took part in the establishment of Neve TZedek and later Tel Aviv.
If you have any questions - you can always contact me directly. You’ll find all the ways to contact me on telaviv.tours (telaviv as one word, no space, no hyphen) and there’s a link in the show notes for your digital convenience.
Travellers coming to Tel Aviv this Spring, starting in April 2025, be advised - the Israeli calendar is filled with special occasions and as the cultural capital of the country, Tel Aviv is set to host several noteworthy events.
Passover is a one week celebration of the biblical exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt. The exact date is calculated according to the Jewish calendar, shifting dates from one year to the other, but always in the beginning of the spring. This year, the Seder, which is the festive dinner starting Passover will take place in many households across Israel on Saturday, 12th of April 2025, after sunset. That evening and throughout the next day, many Israelis will observe a day of rest, so you can expect most places to be closed, as well as on the final day of Passover, which falls this year on Saturday the 19th of April.
During that week of passover school kids are on their spring break, so don’t be horrified with the masses of youngsters roaming the streets. Plus, you will find something a bit odd when you go inside a supermarket in Tel Aviv - sheets of plastic are spread over pastas, biscuits and similar products made out of baking dough. Israel is the only Jewish state in the world and some deem it necessary that certain religious traditions, such as refraining from eating baked goods during Passover, should be observed publicly - hence the plastic sheets blocking buyers from obtaining products which should not be consumed for an entire week. This is because the Jews leaving Egypt were in a hurry and had no time to prepare decent bread. You are allowed to purchase Matzas - a sort of flat bread, which is said to be similar to what the Jews leaving Egypt did manage to prepare in their rushed escape.
In sharp contrast, on the last day of the holiday, at sunset starts the festival known as Mimouna. Brought to Israel by Moroccan Jews, this festival is a colourful celebration famous for the oriental pastries handed out to guests at private parties, as well as live music influenced by Mediterranean culture played to the late hours of the night in some places. Yes, Mimouna is one of the few days of the year in which noise regulations in Israel are nullified.
The following day - the 20th of April 2025 - will be a normal business day in Tel Aviv, and indeed across Israel, but the local Christian community will be celebrating Easter Sunday on that day. If in Tel Aviv, you might notice the Easter Sunday celebration of the Christian Community in Jaffa, but the major event will take place in the Old City of Jerusalem, where thousands will participate in the annual festive procession along the Via Dolorosa.
The end of April also brings Israel's most significant commemorative days. Yom HaShoah - Holocaust Remembrance Day - starts at sunset April 23rd. That evening, businesses will shut down no later than 7pm and ceremonies will be held in public places, such as HaBima Square in Tel Aviv. The following day will be quite normal other than the fact that sitting at a coffee place, instead of the usual atmospheric music, you will hear either melancholic Israeli songs or no music whatsoever until the day is out. Also - and this is something quite unique to Israel - in the late morning hours a siren will play a steady tone throughout the country indicating a national moment of silence, with everyone expected to stop what they’re doing and stand still. Some people head out to a nearby intersection to see traffic abruptly coming to a halt as drivers quickly leap out of their cars to pay respect to six million Jews perished in the holocaust.
The same goes for Yom HaZikaron - Israel’s Memorial Day - starting on the evening of April 29th, the only difference being that a siren will also play at the start of memorial day ceremonies, and that when the day is out it’s immediately time to start partying. This might seem weird for outsiders, but one of the saddest days of the year, in which Israel cries for its fallen soldiers and for those who lost their lives in terror attacks, is juxtaposed against one of the happiest days of the year, in which Israel celebrates its independence. I’ll elaborate on that in the next episode.
Until then - I am Tel Aviv tour guide Tomer Chelouche, signing off and hoping to see you soon in Tel Aviv.
Show notes:
Roger’s House (Booking.com affiliate link)
