On Independence Day eve, Wednesday, 7.5.08, there will be five entertainment stages and the food courts will be located on the central basketball courts in Raanana Park and in the Amphitheater compound.

The central stage will be located in the Amphitheater and entertainment will begin at 20:30:  Raanana's dance academies will perform a variety of dances to mark 60 years of Israeli dance, artists will include Yehudit Ravitz, Avi and Gal Sinuani and Gidi Gov who will perform their greatest hits.

The Children's Stage will be located on the Raanana Park central lawn, and begin at 20:30:  The Pninei Hasharon Entertainment Troupe will open with its program "Sixty Years of Song", with a guest performance by Adi Himelbloi, star of the Children's Channel's "HaShminiya" and hosted by actor Oded Menashe.  Winners of the 17th annual children's song festival will perform, as well as the Supplementary Education 2010 troupes.

The Jewish Music Stage will be located on the Raanana Park central lawn and begin at 22:00:  Playing lively Chassidic, folk and Jewish music, led by Netanel Kuperman and his band.

The Youth Stage will be located on the Raanana Park central lawn and begin at 24:30:  Artists Barry Sakharov, Yoni Bloch, Shlomi Barel, Daniel Ben Haim and the Iceland Band will perform live alongside Raanana youth who won the young musicians contest – Pundak Haruchot and singer, Linoy Golani.  The show will be hosted by D.J.s Tzachi Alt and Lior Motola.

The Moshava Stage will be located at the Yad LaBanim Plaza and begin at 21:30: Group singing with Yossi Lev and singer Tzipi Zarankin and Israeli dancing with Yom Tov Ohayon.

On Yom Ha'atzmaut Eve, Raanana will join the global singing of "Hatikva" on all of its entertainment stages at 22:50:  Raanana will join the Hatikva Project designed to unite Jews of the world in the joint singing of Israel's national anthem and to break the Guinness world record for the singing of a national anthem.

Free for Raanana residents:  Municipal transportation to the entertainment areas:  The Raanana Municipality will operate a free bus line along Ahuza and Weizman Streets to Raanana Park.  The Ahuza bus line will start at Schwartz Street and run until Yerushalayim Street.  On Weizman Street, the bus will begin on Akiva Street (the Kalil Horesh parking lot) until the Amphitheater.  The busses will run regularly to the park and stop at the exiting bus stops from 19:30 until  5:00 the next morning.

Independence Firing Range at 48 HaHistadrut Street:  Raanana residents are invited to attend the events and activities held at the municipal firing range: There will be Airsoft gun firing in the closed hall, firing in the open range, an exhibit of firearms and certificates and medals for outstanding shooters.  From age 12 years and up.

Raanana Artists Open their Homes to Residents from 8.5.08 to 10.5.08:  This event has become a municipal tradition, in which 41 local artists open their homes to the public, which is invited to come view their artwork, in a variety of fields:  painting, sculpture,  jewelry making, etc.  

Exhibition at the Gallery By the Lake:  "The Landscapes of My Youth", from 7.5.08 to 27.5.08:  Raanana artists from various fields will exhibit their artwork in a fascinating exhibition, in honor of Israel's 60 years of independence, including photography, sculpture and various forms of painting.  The exhibition brings the different and personal points of view of each artist with regard to the landscape of his/her youth – their cultural and historical heritage.  Alongside these artists, for the first time, students studying in the Mor Metrowest High School design art department will also display their artwork.
Exhibition Curator:  Anat Nitzan and Guy Olami.
The official opening will be held on Friday, 9.5.08 at 11:00 and will be attended by Mayor Nahum Hofree and his Deputy Ronit Weintraub, in charge of the culture, youth and leisure division.

Traffic Instructions for Yom Ha'atzmaut eve, Wednesday, 7.5.08:  According to the instructions issued by the Israel Police, the following streets will be closed to traffic from 18:00 to 24:00:  Traffic along Derech Hapark, Yerushalayim and Weizman.  From the corner of Yerushalayim until Derech Hapark counterclockwise traffic will be allowed.  Traffic on Weizman Street to Herzliya will be diverted through Hanesi'im Street to Ahuza and the Levinstein junction.

The Raanana Park lots will be closed, except for the Amphitheater parking lots, which may be accessed through Weizman Street only.
Vehicles parked in forbidden areas will be towed by the police.
It is recommended to come to the festivities with the bus service or on foot, due to the heavy traffic expected in the area.