This summer 2015 the Kraków Jewish Culture Festival will celebrate its 25th anniversary season. Founded in 1988, one year before the fall of Communism in Poland, the Festival has transformed from a small event commemorating the Jewish past in Poland into the world's largest celebration of contemporary Jewish culture from the entire Diaspora. While honoring the Jewish past, the Festival looks to the Jewish future. Each year, the Festival's 200+ events (including concerts, workshops, lectures, seminars, exhibitions, live street art, DJ-parties, and guided tours) draw an audience of over 30,000 from around the world.
Each of the past 24 Festivals has built upon the success of the previous year's Festival. Reaching the 25th anniversary gives the Festival an opportunity to reflect on its achievements and sustainability. The Festival decided to celebrate the quarter-century by looking to the term "quarter" itself. The term "quarter" reminded the Festival leadership of the environment, Kazimierz – the Jewish quarter of Kraków. Thanks in large part to the Festival, Jewish life has returned to this quarter after decades of absence, and now flourishes there like nowhere else in Europe. Taube Philanthropies is proud that over 25 years the Festival has contributed so much to the quarter, Kazimierz.
The Festival's presence in the quarter of Kazimierz has inspired it to make the term "quarter" the theme of this year's festival. The Festival will present the cultural achievements of various Jewish quarters around the globe, including Kazimierz, and discuss their development and vibrant cultural and social life.
As in previous years, the concept of Mi Dor Le Dor (Heb.: "from generation to generation") will be emphasized during this anniversary season. This year's Festival will feature presentations by Festival founders and leaders in the Jewish cultural revival as well as by members of the younger generation. Seasoned performers Shlomo Bar, David Krakauer and the Grammy Award-winning band The Klezmatics will share the stage with contemporary stars of Israeli music scene, including Shai Tsabari, Kutiman, and the Polish group Alte Zachen.
The Festival's opening concert will feature prominent cantors, including Yaakov Lemmer, Ushi Blumenberg, David Weinbach, and The Bells Vocal Ensemble with maestro Yosi Schwartz from Israel. The grand finale concert of the Festival, Shalom on Szeroka Street, will take place in the heart of the Jewish quarter. This 7-hour-long outdoor event will feature all of the Festival artists on one stage. On that night, the Jewish quarter of Kazimierz will truly be an epicenter of global Jewish culture.
Other Festival performers will include Meron Benvenisti, former Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem during the era of Teddy Kolek, Francesco Spagnolo, Curator of the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art & Life and a Lecturer in the Department of Music at University of California, Berkeley, and journalists Ruth Ellen Gruber (based in Warsaw), Chris Silver (based in Los Angeles, and who explores Jewish quarters in Muslim countries), and Sam Norich, Editor-in-Chief of The Forward (based in New York).
For 25 years the Festival has been effectively building bridges between generations, traditions, cultures, and religions; it has changed people's hearts and minds. For 25 years it has contributed to the rebirth and renaissance of contemporary Jewish life in Poland. A quarter of a century for the Jewish quarter of Kraków, Jewish quarters around the world, and the entire Jewish community. Celebrate with the Festival this summer for the anniversary celebration, June 25-July 5!
