Some 200,000 people tour the country celebrating Shavuot
Thousands of Israelis visit nature reserves, national parks across the country celebrating Shavuot; Israel's kibbutzim hold traditional annual display of agricultural products and new-born babies; Israel Nature and Parks Authority advises to stay close to water sources due to extreme heat.
Israel's Nature and Parks Authority said some 20,000 of all visitors are tourists, who mainly visited heritage sites in Beit She'an, Caesarea, Masada, and Qumran, but also in the Banias, Tel Dan and Ein Gedi nature reserves.
The most visited sites were Gan HaShlosha National Park with 3,500 visitors, the Ein Afek nature reserve with 3,000 visitors, Caesarea and Masada with 2,500 visitors each and, last but not least, Snir Stream with 2,000 visitors.
During the weekend, all-ages activities took place including a "chutes and ladders" activity at the Ein Prat Nature Reserve, cave tours at Beit She'arim National Park and Shavuot celebrations at the Belvoir Fortress National Park.
Despite of the extreme heat, some 6,000 people spent the night in the overnight parking lots of Hurshat Tal, Achziv, Harod Spring National Park and Ashkelon. The Palmachim and Beit Yanai beaches, meanwhile, were at full capacity by Sunday morning.
The ten thousand people who visited the north of the country focused on the Sea of Galilee, HaGoshrim and Kfar Blum's kayaks and water attractions, as well as on cherry picking in the Golan Heights.
Some 70,000 people visited the Sea of Galilee, with 30,000 of them staying near the Kinneret serene beaches. The Kinneret Authority operated free shuttle services from Tiberias to the beaches and back.
Nature and Parks Authority's representative in the Ein Gedi nature reserve Ronen Segal said, "Some of the tracks are closed due to the extremely hot weather. We advise visitors to stay close to water to cool off and to have fun as much as possible." Segal added that most of the visitors followed the Authority's instructions.
In the Upper Galilee's kibbutzim, thousands of people celebrated the Jewish harvest festival Saturday evening and Sunday morning with a traditional ceremony that included the presentation of products and crops of the past year, and displaying the Bikkurim (first fruits of the year) of the different branches of the agriculture industry.
A unique ceremony in which parents lift their young babies who were born since last Shavuot also took place in the country's kibbutzim. Meir Amar, a member of the Tzora kibbutz, explained Shavuot celebrations were a long-standing tradition.
"My wife was born here, and we joined the kibbutz two years ago. Every year the kibbutz presents its products coming from various branches—crops, art and new merchandise," he added.
"Our babies are also part of our products. Our Jonathan is a new kibbutz member, and we are celebrating his arrival," he rejoiced.
Tair Levin, another member of the Tzora kibbutz, said, "The Shavuot ceremony is one of the most invested-in ceremonies in the kibbutz. It's so much fun to witness every year all of the kibbutz's members join the celebrations clad in festive whites."
High capacity was also noted in all resort and tourism sites across the central Arava region. Visitors enjoyed the Shavuot celebrations and other colorful events throughout the region's communities, which included singing songs, dancing and festive meals.
A Ynet team went to the Yarkon Park to hear how Israelis chose to mark Shavuot and received greetings, water fights and even a skewer or two.
"This year the park is less crowded," according to Galit Zil, who said she comes to the park every year with her family to have a cookout.
Roit came from Be'er Sheva to celebrate the holiday together with her husband's childhood friends and told Ynet she has so much fun in Shavuot, wishing happy holidays to all the people of Israel.
Alongside all the barbecues, the Ynet team found one family that came to the park to have a dairy holiday meal. "We are the only ones who celebrate this holiday properly," one of the family's members said.
In the north of the country, the town of Karmiel held the eighth consecutive motor celebration in which some 1,000 collectors' vehicles were showcased, as well as luxury vehicles and motorcycles from 20 motorcycle clubs across the country.
Karmiel's municipality estimated more than 10,000 people attended the event.
