The arrival of the Queen of Sheba, projected on the Tower of David. That's right.

Or, uh, at least the next three weekends.

Hamshush is a bit of acronym-tastic army slang, short for "Hamishi, shishi v'Shabbat" ("Thursday, Friday and Saturday"), that refers to a rare prize in an Israeli's army service: getting released from base on Thursday to enjoy two and a half whole days of leave. And with uncharacteristic pithiness, the Municipality has tacked "hamshush" onto "Yerushalayim" to give us Hamshushalaim, an annual city-wide festival taking place over three consecutive long weekends. And it's starting this Thursday.

So what can a Jerusalem resident or visitor expect from these three hamshushim for the price of one? A pretty good deal: free or reduced-price admission to museums and tourist sites; extended venue and museum hours; reduced hotel fares as thousands upon thousands of both domestic and foreign tourists descend on the city; and cheap food from some of the city's finest restaurants.

That leaves you with a lot of choices:

• Seize the opportunity to visit the Israel Museum, the Bloomfield Science Museum, the Bible Lands Museum, the Museum of Italian Jewry, the Museum of Islamic Art, the Tower of David Museum, the City of David, the Jerusalem Archaeological Park or the Ramparts Walk free of charge.

• Dig a choral concert in the Shrine of the Book or a wacky Tower of David light and sound show (pictured above), or the dozens of other events.

• Eat a 62 NIS or 92 NIS prix fixe meal at Pera e Mela, Okhlim BaShuk, El Gaucho, Ima, Emil, Angelica, Buffalo Steakhouse, Between the Arches, Black Bar 'n' Burger, Gabriel, Darna, Hess, ZaZa, La Boca, La Guta, Link, Montefiore, Sofia, Focaccia, Polly, Pituim, Canela or Shipudei HaGefen.

Of course, Jerusalemite is your one-stop shop for Hamshushalaim event information. Most of the events taking place at Jerusalem's major venues over the three weekends of Hamshushalaim were already scheduled and will simply be receiving a price cut, so check out our listings for the first, second and third weekends - and keep in mind that new events are being added all the time, so keep checking back. You can also get a full listing in English on the Municipality's website, although be prepared to contend with the same terrible organizational skills that brought you the light rail.

And if you'll be visiting from out of town, don't forget to check out the lengthy list of hotels offering special discounts.

We'll have more special Hamshushalaim content in the days to come. Have fun, eat well, and tip your hat towards city hall for their one yearly good idea.

Light show image courtesy of Amit Geron for the Tower of David; Hamshushalaim banner image courtesy of the Jerusalem Municipality's sopkesperson's office.