Celebrate Tel Aviv’s Centennial with the city that never sleeps. The ‘Big Orange,’ or as the locals call it, ‘The Bubble,’ for Tel Aviv’s ability to keep the party going, with cafes and clubs open and the vibe current, regardless of what’s happening on the national front. Not because the locals don’t care – they do, they’re just relentlessly optimistic.

Walk the streets of Tel Aviv and be charmed by the mix of people and architecture – clean-lined Bauhaus buildings stand alongside older Eclectic style buildings while a combination of Israeli personalities walk the streets. The young high-techie, complete with fitted shirt and good-looking girlfriend by his side; the ageing German frau immaculately dressed, walking her small dog to a daily coffee date; the surfer dude in his flip-flops on the way to the beach.

Tel Aviv has become Israel’s secular yet spiritual melting pot, home to all and open to anything. It is also the destination for art, music, dance, and any other kind of cultural gathering, from midnight clubbing and Israeli DJing to Hebrew singalongs and folkdancing on the beach.

Tel Aviv’s 100th birthday was a party that city officials planned carefully with an arc of activities spanning an entire year – starting with a big splash that will end officially in December 2009 with several projects and exhibitions continuing into next year. The program encompasses educational programming in the local schools – covering city history, tours for students, environmental initiatives and artwork created by kids documenting the city and her history. The public was invited to the party as well, with community events that celebrated the famous faces of Tel Aviv along with its residents. Photos from personal albums have been mounted in various institutions alongside written memories of life in the city. Street art of all kinds continues to be on display throughout the city – particularly along its boulevards, Rothschild, Chen, Ben Zion and Ben Gurion.

The Maccabiah, Israel’s sports festival for Jewish athletes, were held in June of 2009, with 10,000 Jews of all ages experiencing a different kind of togetherness through sport. October is Green Month, with new bicycle paths – 100 kilometers or about 60 miles – and walking paths dedicated throughout the city, as Tel Aviv does its best to emphasize clean living for all its inhabitants. A host of outdoor activities are also planned for the month of October with city walks and dance performances – the Zik Group and Vertigo Dance Company will perform – and a special project between teens, seniors and people with disabilities will ensure that everyone takes part in enjoying the city.

The end of the year’s celebrations will be marked with an emphasis on the history of the endeavor – the building of a new city and those who took part. A Founder’s Conference is scheduled along with a special reenactment of the city’s history by teens from the Tel Aviv branch of the National Scouts Movement, honoring the older generation and the city itself.

A retrospective of Alexander Calder’s kinetic sculpture – familiar to many Israelis from public art installations countrywide – is scheduled at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art and other exhibits will open marking 100 years of art collecting in Tel Aviv. The city’s annual Open House Tour will offer guided tours of several historical homes, marking the people, places and period that marked the city’s founding. The celebration will close with the International Business Conference, promoting local and international cooperative ventures with international investors and companies – projects that promise renewed economic development for the entire country.

Here’s to the next 100 years for Tel Aviv – may they be fruitful, eventful and exciting.

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