9th Annual

Jewish Music & Cultural Festival

Celebrates Israel at 60!

On Sunday June 15^th, from 11am to 6pm, Clinton Square in downtown Syracuse will be buzzing with activity as The 9^th Annual Jewish Music and Cultural Festival gets underway as the last Israel@60 event of the community celebration for the 60^th anniversary of the State of Israel. Israeli products, food, information, displays and Israeli performers will be featured. Special attention has been given to an expanded selection of Jewish and Middle Eastern foods for purchase, all va’ad supervised.

A special Israel at 60 Ceremony will open the festival at 11 a.m. with area rabbis and cantors along with local and state dignitaries. A community choir under the direction of Francine Berg will perform. The ceremony will be a secular service honoring the anniversary of the State of Israel. After this special ceremony the music will start at 11:45am.

The Festival Committee is excited to announce that Simply Tsfat from Tsfat, Israel and Hananel Edri from Kiryat Shmona, Israel will be two of the featured performers. Simply Tsfat, three Hasidic members of the Breslev tradition, were wildly popular when they performed at the fest in Syracuse four years ago, and have since toured worldwide. Hananiel Edri has been on worldwide tours as a musical ambassador for Israel, as a member of the Israeli Scouts and also as a solo performer. Another group making their first appearance in Syracuse is The Shekhter-Tekhters, The Schhaechter Daughters and Binyumen, will review kids, parents and relationships in song.  The choice of these acts will assure high quality performances that will continue to maintain and enhance Syracuse’s reputation as the CNY festival city.

Entertainment from the Central New York and Upstate areas will include the ever-popular Love and Knishes, and a jam session with Jonathan Dinkin & Klezmercuse and the Keyna Hora Klezmer Band, as well as the only Jewish Community Choir in this area, the Kenesseth Shalom Singers, Cantors, and Bonnie Abrams.

Also during the festival, at 1:30pm, there will be a L’Dor v’Dor ceremony to honor all dads on Father’s day as well as parents. Also all Bar and Bat Mitzvahs for the entire year will be introduced to the community. The sounds of shofars will ring out in Clinton Square before and after this special ceremony.

The festival is free to the public and includes many types of Jewish music such as Israeli, Yiddish theater, and klezmer  (the 500-year old secular Jewish music of Eastern Europe). Plus this year the music of Israel will be highlighted. Plan to come with the family to enjoy an eclectic assortment of arts & crafts vendors, a variety of ethnic and kosher foods, and children’s activities including games from the Jewish Community Center of Syracuse, the Price Chopper hopper, life-sized puppets from the Open Hand Theater, sand painting and an Instrument Petting Zoo. There also will be a Community Tent where Jewish organizations and synagogues will provide information.

The festival is sponsored in part by the Syracuse Jewish Federation, a state grant secured by Senator John A. DeFrancisco, the City of Syracuse Parks & Recreation Dept, the Cultural Resources Council, the Jewish Community Center of Syracuse, a Paul Roth grant, and the Pomeranz Fund. Corporate sponsors include Price Chopper, Raymour & Flanigan, M&T Bank, Key Private Bank, Exhibits & More, WellCare, and Natur-Tyme. Media sponsors are Time Warner Cable, Sunny 102, The Post-Standard, Syracuse New Times, Syracuse.com, Table Hopping, WAER, and the Syracuse Jewish Observer.