shoppers laden with baskets of fruit and vegetables.

The passin crowds knew vegetables not art.

In 1987 the area was earmarked to become a pedestrian area.

But the architectural potential of the place

turned the broad walk into an animated festival, creating

a display window for art in the daily environment.

In the first year  artists gathered themself, and by the third year,

they were queuing up to join the festival.

With no funds or financial support, street performers

gave their first performances for free, out of love and

belief in the spirit of Nachlat Binyamin.

And so it remained. In addition to the hundreds of stalls lining the

midrachov street performers provide plenty of sidline entertainement.

Musicians, mime artists, puppeteers

and magicians take to the streets every week adding another dimension to the festival spirit.