On Thursday, Jewish communities throughout the world are gathering together to celebrate Israel’s Independence Day in a variety of ways.

Leading the way are Jewish communities in the United States, which behind Israel, will be holding the largest celebrations.

The Israeli-American council is organizing five mass celebratory events in major cities throughout the US. While none of these events will actually happen on Independence Day according to the Hebrew calendar (April 23), the events will mark a celebration of Israel’s 67th birthday.

Among the events are performances by Israeli musicians, cultural activities, Israeli food vendors, street art, and displays featuring Israeli technology.

“The festivals will give the tens of thousands of participants coast to coast the possibility to celebrate Israel’s Independence Day for a whole day, which is an experience showing all that is beautiful and good in Israel,” said Sagi Balasha, the group’s CEO.

Kicking things off will be the city of Miami whose May 3rd event is expected to be one of the largest in the country. It will be followed by Las Vegas on May 10th and Los Angeles on May 17th.In an uncharacteristic move for rival cities Boston and New York, the two cities will celebrate Israel together on May 31st.

In total, across all give cities, organizers are expecting to draw more than 50,000 people, making the Israel celebrations the largest in North America to date.

The US not only will play host to the largest North American independence festivities, but it also is home to an estimated between 500,000 to 800,000 Israeli expatriates, making it the largest Israeli population outside of Israel.

For those who prefer slightly colder climates, Canada will be holding celebrations on April 23rd in a variety of communities, and will also be continuing the festivities in Toronto well into May. Toronto, aside from being the largest city in Canada, plays host to biggest Jewish community in the country, the fourth largest Jewish community in North America.

One of the highlights of the city’s Independence Day festivities will be a special screening of “Underneath the Helmet,” a new Israeli film that deals with life as a new recruit in the IDF. A number of large ceremonies paying tribute to Israeli Memorial Day and Independence Day are expected to take place as well.

On May 18th, the United Jewish Appeal will be taking over the streets of downtown Toronto with their annual Walk/Run With Israel event. The 6 kilometer event has already raised over $100,000 with almost a month left to go. The UJA is an organization that donates large amounts of money every year to Israel as well as Jewish and Israeli organizations in Canada,

“The festivals, which are an important element of the diverse activity around North America, will help recruit the Israeli and Jewish community for the pro-Israel activism that’s needed today, more than in the past, in light of the increase in anti-Semitism and attempts to delegitimize Israel around the US and the entire world,” said Balasha.

Independence Day Celebration Highlights in Israel:

France’s “Prince”, son of former Prime Minister Nikolas Sarkoz, Pierre, will be performing as the DJ for the main Independence Day party for the city of Rishon Letzion. This will be the sought after DJ’s third performance in Israel to date.

Of the many celebrations that will be taking place in Israel on Independence Day, one of the most notable ones will be the national beacon lighting ceremony. 67 Israelis from all different backgrounds who have made the biggest difference in Israel have been chosen to light the special beacon’s of light.

Among them is an autistic soldier who has contributed greatly to protecting Israel in a special unit designed for autistic soldiers, 9900. Another will be the inventor of the Iron Dome system. Brig. Gen (Res.) Dr. Danny Gold; the Inventor of the WAZE navigation application Ehud Shabtai,; The first female fighter pilot in the IAF; Alice Miller, who paved the way for women to take part in combat units across the IDF; and supermarket and philanthropist extraordinaire Rami Levy.

Many other notable men and women, all of whom made a major contribution to the State of Israel will be called upon to light a beacon.

Some points to celebrate this year over the holiday:

27,933 new Jewish immigrants made their home in Israel this past year, and will be celebrating their first Independence Day as an Israeli.

Together with the population increase of  two percent, Israel’s total population rose to 8,345,000. This is more than ten times the amount of people who were here in 1948 when the country was founded.

This past year saw 176,000 babies born in Israel, and a rise to 6,251,000 Jews who live in Israel.

There are also 1,730,000 Arabs living in Israel and an additional 346,000 people who are defined as belonging to other religions, including Christians.

Israel’s growth has expanded the number of cities that have a population of over 100,000. There are now 14 in total, as compared to just one in 1948.

Israel also now boasts six cities that have a population of over 200,000. They are in order: Jerusalem, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Haifa, Rishon LeTzion, Ashdod, and Petah Tikva.