The ancient and sacred city of Jerusalem takes on an entirely different vibe around midnight.
Long after visitors have made their daytime pilgrimages to trendsetting clubs, Jerusalem's bars and impromptu art exhibits come alive.
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The drag shows, hipster parties, and hardcore punk bands seem a world apart from nearby ultra-Orthodox or Palestinian neighborhoods in the city's eastern sector.
Compared with the many venues in Israel's more affluent, freewheeling commercial hub of Tel Aviv, Jerusalem's party scene is tiny.
But fans say their city – where religious, ethnic and political divisions run deep – has spawned a cutting-edge subculture.
"Jerusalem is a pretty extreme place, politically and religiously," said Yaakov Baharav, 35, a member of the city's Taltalistim art collective, which stages parties and art events in abandoned spaces around the city.
Young liberals in the city sometimes feel they are on a mission to provide a haven of sanity – or craziness – to people of all faiths, genders, and nationalities who just want to have fun and break loose from Jerusalem's harsh realities.
Many of the city's 900,000 residents are poor and jobless, particularly members of the Arab and ultra-Orthodox communities.
Not only is Jerusalem central to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but there is also friction between ultra-Orthodox residents and a dwindling Jewish secular community that often feels stifled by religious strictures.
The Taltalistim collective's most recent project was to take over a deserted cinema complex in Jerusalem's industrial area, turning it into a colorful venue for musicians and artists to put on shows and party into the early hours.
"We try to provide people with the chance to enjoy total freedom," said Baharav, as a naked man and woman wrapped in plastic wrap slithered along the floor to ambient sounds played by a DJ in a performance art show at the complex.
"Freedom is not something you can take for granted in Jerusalem," he said.
