Attraction Archives | World Jewish Travel

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

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.

Hutzot Hayotzer Fair

Hutzot Hayotzer, is an arts and crafts lane in Jerusalem, Israel, located west of the Old City walls. Its name means “the potter’s section” (compound) or “the potter’s hedge” in Hebrew and Aramaic.Since 1976, Hutzot Hayotzer and the Sultan’s Pool area have been the site of the annual International Arts and Crafts Fair or Festival, a 12-day event in August featuring the work of local and international artists. There are also open-air concerts, workshops for children and food booths. Many of Israel’s leading pop and rock stars have performed at Hutzot Hayotzer. During the festival, the artist studios along the lane stay open late and the artists offer public demonstrations of their work.

Open House Tel Aviv

Open House Tel Aviv is one of many Open House events that takes place in cities around the world.

One weekend a year, Tel Aviv opens up private spaces – designer lofts, urban villas, unique synagogues, architecturally significant public buildings, curious construction sites, plazas and gardens.

During the event weekend, the public can visit, explore and discuss these sites.

Many people have contributed in order to allow us all discover Tel Aviv from within during this weekend, including architects, developers, property owners, institutional administrators and many others who live and breathe the city ,including some who devote their time to trying to improve it.

The inspiration for the event came from OpenHouse LONDON and OpenHouse NY, and there are several Open House events around the globe.

The Pride and Tolerance Parade in Jerusalem

The Open House has been organizing the Pride and Tolerance Parade in Jerusalem for almost two decades. Since 2002, we have been marching in Jerusalem in a stubborn struggle for its presence in our city, for our right to liberty, equality, personal security and public space, and to promote pluralism and tolerance.

In Jerusalem, a city where miracles happen every day, the parade is another small miracle that manages to combine the multifaceted character of the city and the multifaceted character of the proud community.

Since the first parade in 2002 the parade has been accompanied by extremist forces seeking to prevent its existence. These attempts culminated in two stabbing incidents, in the summer of 2005 and in the summer of 2015, when the late Shira Banki, not yet 16 years old, was murdered in Shani, who came to march with her friends. In the face of such a heinous manifestation of blind hatred, we have experienced great support in recent years. Every summer, tens of thousands of Israelis from all over the country and from diverse sectors and publics walk with us hand in hand, as well as guests from all over the world.

Although the parade is produced by the Open House in Jerusalem, it is the parade of us all. Jerusalem is the capital of the state, where the Knesset, the government and the Supreme Court sit – the decision-makers who shape the public and legal reality. It is also a city where populations meet, a complex social fabric and the spiritual center of the three monotheistic religions, a holy city for billions of believers.

The parade carries a protest and struggling nature, celebrating the community and our achievements in the face of impossible challenges. The parade marks the miracle of struggle and protest, and thanks to it, our voices resonate throughout the country and around the world.

Cave of Patriarch Worship

The Cave of the Patriarchs stand over the tomb that Abraham purchased, as recorded in the Book of Genesis. The Cave of the Patriarchs was built by Herod the Great over 2,000 years ago and is still standing and in use up to this day. These caves are the burial plots of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs of the Bible; Abraham & Sarah, Isaac & Rebekah, and Jacob & Leah. For 700 years, from 1267 to 1967, Jews were barred from entering the Cave of the Patriarchs. In 1967, Rabbi Shlomo Goren reclaimed Jewish control over the Cave of the Patriarchs in the name of the Jewish people, and people of all faiths can now freely enter and worship at the holy site.

Ride for the Living

This four-day event includes a one-day, 60-mile bike ride from Auschwitz-Birkenau to the Jewish Community Center in Krakow, among a packed program of cultural festivities. There is also a separate program running on the same day as the ride, for non-riding participants. You’ll receive a private guided tour of Auschwitz, unique tours of Krakow, and an invitation to the largest Shabbat dinner in Krakow since World War II. RFTL has welcomed participants as young as 16 and older than 80. It’s a festival that combines sad memories and cultural celebrations for an overall hopeful message about Jewish life in Poland.

RFTL was started by Robert Desmond, who cycled 1,350 km from London to Auschwitz, visiting WWII Liberation sites along the way. Once Desmond learned about the Krakow JCC, he realized it was the perfect destination. The revival of Jewish life in Poland should be celebrated, and Desmond created a way to do so while paying tribute to a difficult past. Just 14 riders joined the first official RFTL from Auschwitz to the JCC in 2014, but now there are over 100 riders, and biking communities around the world host events in solidarity with with RFTL.

Event Tag: Attraction