Celebrate Israel's 78th Independence Day with Community!
Join us on Tuesday, April 21, at 7:30 p.m. for our community’s signature Yom Ha’atzmaut celebration, an evening that brings nearly 1,000 people together to honour Israel’s 78th Independence Day with music, dance, and meaningful connection.
This year, we are delighted to welcome musician Ben Golan from Kiryat Shmona from our partnership region in the Upper Galilee and Vancouver's own Israeli cover band, HaOptziot, who will be playing all the Israeli hits.
Come dance, celebrate, and reconnect with community as we honour Israel’s resilience, creativity, and enduring spirit. Let’s make Israel’s 78th Independence Day unforgettable, together.
Meet the musicians who will bring the night to life.
Ben Golan
Ben Golan is a musician, producer, and community builder from Kiryat Shmona, the city at the heart of our partnership region. He is the founder of Patifon, a grassroots music initiative that has kept community and culture alive even as the city faced displacement following the October 7th attacks and war that followed. His music carries the voice and heart of the north. We’re grateful to have him with us at our Yom Ha'atzmaut celebration.
"I want to bring messages of resilience and hope. Independence, for me, is also the ability to choose to create despite the difficulty, to choose community, to choose light. I want to bring the story of the north: people who continue to build, organize events, create music, and hold each other up even when reality is complicated. In my music, there is room for both joy and pain, because both are part of our lives, especially in this time."
HaOptziot brings the heartbeat of Israeli rock to Vancouver.
HaOptziot is an Israeli cover band specializing in energetic live performances of classic Israeli rock hits by iconic artists like Mashina, Eifo Hayeled, Berry Sakharof, and Monica Sex, blending authentic Israeli sound with a vibrant community atmosphere suited to intimate pubs and local venues.
Composed of talented musicians from Vancouver's Israeli community, the band captivates a diverse audience, from families to music enthusiasts, with high-energy renditions that reconnect listeners to their cultural roots while bridging Israeli heritage and local life.
Meet the band: Goor Cohen - Singer and Guitar / Kobi Gabay - Singer and Guitar / Yotam Ronen - Bass Guitar / Avishai Weissberg - Lead Guitar / Omer Yehi Shalom - Drums