Attraction Archives | World Jewish Travel

Borscht Belt Fest

Discover the Borscht Belt Fest in Ellenville

Celebrate the magic, humor, and history of Jewish-American culture at the Borscht Belt Fest in Ellenville. Rooted in the vibrant legacy of the Catskills region, this festival honors a golden era known for its iconic resorts, legendary entertainers, and beloved traditions. Originally inspired by the lively charm of the mid-20th-century Borscht Belt, this event carries forward a rich cultural heritage that continues to captivate audiences of all ages. Ellenville, nestled in the heart of the Catskills, sets the stage each year for this spirited celebration.

The Borscht Belt Fest is a feast for the senses. Indulge in classic Jewish comfort foods that bring an authentic taste of Borscht Belt heritage events to life—think smoky homemade delicacies, flaky baked goods, and of course, hearty bowls of borscht. These traditional flavors set the tone for an unforgettable experience that is as much about savoring history as it is about enjoying the moment.

The festival’s lineup promises endless excitement and laughter, featuring comedians, musicians, and storytellers who channel the humor and creativity that defined the Borscht Belt era. Engaging workshops, art exhibits, and nostalgic activities offer visitors a chance to get involved, from rugelach bake-offs to energetic klezmer music performances. These customs honor Jewish culture, blending cherished traditions with joyous celebration to keep the spirit alive for all who attend.

Open to everyone—families, locals, and travelers alike—the festival welcomes individuals who share a love for the Borscht Belt history and its enduring impact. Participants celebrate a time that brought communities together through art, laughter, and resilience, making this Catskills cultural festival a vibrant tribute to those unforgettable summers.

Whether you’re revisiting cherished memories or discovering this heritage for the first time, the Borscht Belt Fest in Ellenville invites you to connect with the past, revel in the present, and create new traditions for the future.

Image attribution:

At the Renegade Chicago Craft fair – Photo by Josh Howard on Unsplash <https://unsplash.com/photos/crowd-on-street-97bHXUlBkGw>

A group of people sitting at picnic tables under umbrellas – Photo by Anastasiia Liubskaia on Unsplash <https://unsplash.com/photos/a-group-of-people-sitting-at-picnic-tables-under-umbrellas-nb4JhrWhE9U>

A group of people walking down a street next to a market – Photo by Marco de Winter on Unsplash <https://unsplash.com/photos/a-group-of-people-walking-down-a-street-next-to-a-market-xwBCCIC8lh4>

People browse art at an outdoor market – Photo by Pascal Bernardon on Unsplash <https://unsplash.com/photos/people-browse-art-at-an-outdoor-market-Y3hUc15IPOs>

Budapest Jewish Cultural Festival

Experience the Joyful Celebration of Jewish Heritage and Art at the Budapest Jewish Cultural Festival

Immerse yourself in the rich tapestry of Jewish culture at the Budapest Jewish Cultural Festival, an annual celebration that transforms Budapest into a vibrant hub of heritage and artistic expression. This premier Jewish festival showcases nearly 200 talented performers, offering visitors a unique blend of traditional and contemporary Jewish culture. From music and dance to visual arts and culinary delights, the Budapest Jewish Cultural Festival offers a diverse array of events that highlight the multifaceted nature of Jewish heritage. This year’s festival promises a special treat with the world premiere of an international musical collaboration, bringing together artists from around the globe to create a unique and memorable experience.

Celebrate 25 Years of Budapest Jewish Cultural Festival

Join us in celebrating a quarter of a century of the Budapest Jewish Cultural Festival, an event that has grown to become a cornerstone of the city’s cultural calendar. Over the past 25 years, the festival has not only provided a platform for Jewish artists and performers but has also fostered a sense of community and cultural pride. We invite you to be part of the festivities and share in the love and passion that has sustained this vibrant community tradition. From intimate encounters with artists to grand performances in iconic venues, the festival offers something for everyone. Dive into the millennial Jewish tradition, explore the cultural and artistic wonders, and create unforgettable memories in the heart of Budapest.

A Diverse Array of Artistic and Literary Programs at the Budapest Jewish Cultural Festival

The Budapest Jewish Cultural Festival features a wide and varied program spanning 10 days, ensuring there’s something for everyone. The festival’s artistic and literary offerings include concerts, literary productions, and dance performances, showcasing both Hungarian and international talent. Among the diverse musical performances, you’ll find everything from klezmer and Yiddish music to classical and popular music concerts. Notable performers include the Budapest Klezmer Band, the Sabbathsong Klezmer Band, László Dés, the Omri Mor Trio, Péter Müller Sziámi, Voices of Yemen, Andrea Malek, and Andrea Szulák. These performances highlight the rich tapestry of Jewish musical tradition and contemporary expression within the Budapest Jewish Cultural Festival.

Featured Performances at the Budapest Jewish Cultural Festival

The Budapest Jewish Cultural Festival features a variety of captivating performances that showcase the rich diversity of Jewish culture. One highlight is the Budapest Klezmer Band concert, set to take place at the historic Dohány Street Synagogue. The band, renowned for its lively and emotional klezmer music, will be joined by special guests Katica Illényi and Szilveszter Szabó P., promising an unforgettable evening.

Another standout performance is the world premiere of “Yiddishe Máme Jukebox,” a musical extravaganza led by Leonid Gutkin and performed by the Binah Orchestra. This unique concert blends traditional Jewish melodies with contemporary music, offering a fresh and exciting experience for audiences. Both performances exemplify the festival’s commitment to celebrating Jewish heritage through exceptional artistic expression.

Celebrating Jewish Heritage in Sacred Venues

The Budapest Jewish Cultural Festival takes place in special locations. The festival’s events are held in historic and sacred sites, including the Dohány Street Synagogue, the Rumbach Street Synagogue, the Frankel Leó Street Synagogue, the Hegedűs Gyula Street Synagogue, and the Bálint House, which is central to the Hungarian Jewish community. These venues not only provide a unique cultural experience but also offer insights into the diversity and richness of Jewish culture and history. Attendees of the Budapest Jewish Cultural Festival will have the opportunity to enjoy world-class performances in settings that hold deep historical and cultural significance.

For more World Jewish Travel festival listings click here.

Images attribution: Photos by Zsidó Kulturális Fesztivál – Jewish Cultural Festival

Tel Aviv Vegan Festival

Israel has been lauded as the most vegan nation on earth, winning accolades as a top tourism destination for vegans. The Tel Aviv Vegan Festival is the largest vegan festival in the world. Tel Aviv, consistently rated as one of the best cities for vegans and full of yummy vegan restaurants, brings paradise to vegans for two days. Vegans can enjoy over 100 stalls from the most delicious vegan restaurants and stores throughout Israel. Each year, the municipality of Tel Aviv, expects no less than 50,000 people to attend the event who indulge in a huge variety of vegan dishes and products.

“Hallowed Lives” concert

In honor of the 7,000 Polish heroes who rescued Jewish people during the war and received
Israel’s highest award for non-Jews – The Righteous Among the Nations
Join us for this free classical concert. Honor the memory of these Polish heroes and the
Jewish people they rescued.

Name: “Hallowed Lives” concert
Date: Saturday, 27 August 2022
Time: 17:00
Address:
KZ
Sienna 68/70, 00-824 Warszawa, Poland
Admission Free, Free Classical Concert

Tahanat Ruach

Tahanat Ruach is a cultural center in Kiryat Tivon that hosts several cultural events throughout the year. Established in April 2018, the center was inspired by the desire to integrate into the community’s diverse cultural collaborations. Through culture, art, coffee, and delicious food our goal is to create a bridge unifying the community of Tivon and the surrounding people who choose to take part in this cultural space.

Everyone is included in the productions and events that occur in the operation of our ever-evolving cafe, in the bustling sound, the lighting, and in the field of marketing and advertising of the space. Ultimately, this is part of our search for lively and fulfilling human encounters and interactions. A search that we are only at the beginning of, but one that already seems to give a kind of homely, warm, and inviting atmosphere to the surrounding environemnt.

Currently operating on the site is a fifth line LIVE that hosts local art and well-known artists who are loved and appreciated. Our cafe is open Monday to Friday from 8:00-14:00. We are also working hard on opening brunches and breakfasts on Fridays in conjunction with two sanities from Pardes Hanna-Karkur and also on a local fourth line for a nonchalant and non-binding local atmosphere. The place can also be rented out for the benefit of other cultural activities.

March of the Living

The March of the Living is an annual educational program which brings students from around the world to Poland, where they explore the remnants of the Holocaust. On Holocaust Memorial Day observed in the Jewish calendar (Yom HaShoah), thousands of participants march silently from Auschwitz to Birkenau, the largest Nazi concentration camp complex built during World War II.

The program was established in 1988 and takes place annually for two weeks around April and May, immediately following Passover. Marchers have come from over 50 countries, as diverse as United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, China, Estonia, Panama, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Hungary, and Turkey.

The Israeli founders of the March of the Living were Avraham Hirschson and Dr. Shmuel Rosenman. They were assisted in the early years by Jewish communal leaders and philanthropists from the United States (Alvin Schiff, Gene Greenzweig and Joseph Wilf, the first North American Chair of the March of the Living), and Canada (Walter Hess, Shlomo Shimon, Rabbi Irwin Witty, and Eli Rubenstein).

Uman Rabbi Nachman MeBraslev Pilgrimage

Join some 30,000 Jews, mostly from Israel, to gather in Uman ahead of the Jewish New Year as part of an annual pilgrimage to the grave of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, an 18th-century luminary buried in Uman. Rabbi Nachman, when he was alive, called on his followers to be with him on Rosh Hashanah.

Acre International Fringe Theatre Festival

The Acre Festival of Alternative Israeli Theatre, also known as the Acre Fringe Theatre Festival or Israel Fringe Theatre Festival, is a four-day performing arts festival held annually in the city of Acre, Israel during the Intermediate Days of the Sukkot holiday in early autumn.

The Festival was Founded in 1980, and it features a competition for original plays that premier during the festival, along with local and foreign theatre productions, street theatre and open-air performances. There are also concerts, arts and crafts workshops, and lectures.

The majority of the Festival’s plays come from outside the mainstream of establishment Israeli theatre, some having avantgarde characteristics and subjects giving outlet to their creators’ personal statements. Some combine media and genres such as pantomime, clowning, video, dance, and performance art rarely seen in the conventional theatre. Many are staged in historic venues within the Old City of Acre, such as its Crusader-era citadel and knights’ halls that have undergone conservation.

The Festival has been produced by the Municipality of Acre since the year 2000. It is supported by the Israel Ministry of Culture, the Old Acre Development Company and overseas philanthropic foundations. The Acre Festival has become a symbol of coexistence between the city’s Jewish and Arab inhabitants. Each year’s program features works by Arab playwrights and troupes along with performances by music ensembles. Performance projects led by theatre professionals provide training for local Arab and Jewish teens, including immigrant youth.

The Festival has been postponed and scaled down twice due to interethnic disturbances: during the October 2000 events of the Second Intifada, and in 2008 due to the Yom Kippur riots, after which the Festival was held during the Hanukkah holiday week.

Adloyada Purim Parades

The Adloyada Parades

These parades are by far the most celebrated events in Israel for the Purim holiday as well as the most historic. The first parade took place in Tel Aviv in 1912 and from that point on have been a staple of the Purim holiday in Israel.

The Amaraic phrase that gave birth to the name Adloyada is “Ad Delo Yada” roughly translated as “until no one longer knows.” Traditionally you must get so drunk on Purim that you can no longer tell the difference between the names Haman and Mordecai. These names look completely different in the Megillah so you have got to be pretty wasted.

The Adloyada parades not only consist of people but some fairly elaborate floats. In the past, these floats paid homage to the history and culture of Israel. Some designs included giant Ben Gurion heads reading Israel’s declaration of independence or the twelve tribes of Israel.

Today, the floats reflect a more modern touch of Israeli culture. The criteria are outlandish, colorful, and loud. DJs and musicians from across the nation come to spin their records and blast their horns from atop the floats. The overarching theme is diversity and difference, which can be seen in each and every float and every Purim costume.

Purim Zombie-Walk in Tel Aviv

Purim Zombie-Walk

The Annual Zombie-Walk in Tel Aviv was created to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Purim. During this holiday, many have the custom to dress up in costume and take part in marches, feasts, and parades. While many parades have a more general costume requirement, this parade encourages all its participants to dress as zombies!

In previous years, nearly 4,000 zombie participants paraded down the streets of Tel Aviv, Israel for the zombie-walk. The walk is organized entirely by volunteers and is open to all that wish to participate, so it is encouraged to bring as many friends and family members as you wish. They say that the more bloody and nasty your zombie costume is, the better! This year, the walk will take place March 18.

Event Tag: Attraction