Light the Second Candle in Wadi Nisnas
It is the second night of Hanukkah, and Wadi Nisnas is already full. The narrow streets of this Arab neighbourhood in central Haifa are strung with lights, the smell of frying oil and sugared dough drifts from the stalls, and the crowd moves slowly past food stands and small stages. This is the Holiday of Holidays, Haifa's annual multi-faith festival, which marks Hanukkah, Christmas and Ramadan together and spills out of Wadi Nisnas into the German Colony at the foot of the Bahai Gardens. On the second night you can light your own candles and then walk straight into somebody else's celebration.
What to Do on the Second Night
- Walk the Holiday of Holidays route. The festival runs daily concerts, food stands and street celebrations through Wadi Nisnas, continuing down into the German Colony. Come after dark, when the candles are lit and the stalls are busiest.
- Eat your way along the stalls. The food stands are the point of the evening: fried, sweet, hot and eaten standing up, with the second-night candles burning somewhere behind you.
- Take in a concert. The festival programmes live music every day of its run. Arrive early enough to hear the first set before the streets fill.
- Book a museum workshop. The Haifa Museum runs special Hanukkah workshops during the holiday, a good daytime option if you are travelling with children or want to be indoors before the evening crowds.
- Catch a Hanukkah play. The Haifa Municipal Theater stages a Hanukkah play during the school break, timed to the holiday itself.
When to Go
Hanukkah events across northern Israel run from December 4 to 12, 2026. Day 2 falls inside that window, so the Holiday of Holidays will be in full swing, as will the museum workshops and the theatre production. Towns and villages across the northern region each host their own Hanukkah activities, so wherever you are based in the north, something is happening nearby.
What to Eat, and Where the Dairy Comes From
The Holiday of Holidays food stands in Wadi Nisnas and the German Colony are where you eat on the night itself. For the dairy side of the holiday, look north: in Safed, old-city dairy workshops demonstrate cheese-making, and eating dairy at Hanukkah honours the heroine Judith. If you want the second day to be more than a single evening's stroll, that is the tradition to chase.
A Day Trip Worth the Drive: Safed
Safed (Tzfat) is described as having an especially large number of Hanukkah activities, and it makes a natural second-day excursion from Haifa. Shvil HaLev and the Tzfat Kabbalah Center run nightly Hanukkah Candle Tours through the Old Jewish Quarter, covering Hanukkah stories and candle-lighting traditions. The Livnot U'Lehibanot community center hosts family activities, music and stories, plus tours of the 16th-century Safed excavations. Go up in the afternoon, take the candle tour after dark, and you will have marked the second night twice over.
Start with the dates: December 4–12, 2026. Pick your second night, book a room in Haifa within walking distance of Wadi Nisnas, and leave the evening free for the German Colony. The candles are lit at nightfall, the stalls stay open late, and the walk between the two neighbourhoods is the whole celebration.