Janice Weinstein, New Bridges executive director, agrees: “Word of mouth is huge. People are talking about it. It’s the don’t-miss Jewish activity of the year.”
On the marquee are some of the entertainers who highlighted last year’s event, including RebbeSoul, Klezmaniac, storyteller Joel ben Izzy, Israeli puppeteer Timor Levy and Mizrachi singer Mira. Rounding out entertainment on the main stage are Vocolot, the popular a cappella women’s group headed by Cantor Linda Hirschhorn, and Jordan River, which performs Jewish jazz. The community stage will offer opportunities to join in Israeli dancing with a number of aficionados, listen to klezmer, demonstrate prowess at shofar-blowing (bring a ram’s horn) and watch a cooking demonstration by Bulletin cooking columnist Rebecca Ets-Hokin.
Ben-Izzy will perform on the children’s stage, which will also feature puppeteer Levy performing in English and Hebrew, storytellers Mia Lieberman and Judith Stubbs, and the South Peninsula Hebrew Day School Children’s Choir, singing in Hebrew and English. The band Kataklezm will also perform.
Beyond the stage, the fair offers other activities for youth, including an amusement area complete with inflatables and rides, and a section for teens with a rock-climbing wall. And on “Parents Place Street,” kids can enjoy free, hands-on art projects sponsored by several Jewish schools.
Adults seeking hands-on activities can learn Hebrew calligraphy, join in a community quilt-making project, or experiment with paper cutting or challah braiding.
If the smell of fresh dough makes them hungry, fairgoers can head over to concessions offering falafel, knishes, blintzes and other Jewish and Mideastern delicacies.
And to feast the eye, local, national and international artists will be on hand, offering Judaica from challah boards to Havdallah sets to mezuzot. Judaica artists include Brenda and Ron Orenstein, woodwork; Marsha Huggins, glasswork; and Aimee Golant, silver and bronze mezuzot. Nina Bonos, whose festival logo is on the cover of this section, will also be exhibiting.
Last year’s popular “Tents of Community” will be moved to California Avenue to showcase local Jewish organizations that are participating. In addition, bob & bob, the Palo Alto store, and Steimatzky Books, Israel’s largest bookstore chain, will be in this area.
The daylong event, being held for the second time, fits in with the New Bridges mission statement: “creating and fostering meaningful connections for Peninsula Jews with each other and with the Jewish community.”
In recent weeks, New Bridges staffers have been working practically double-time to produce the festival, according to Sands-Weinstein. But the payoff is increased Jewish involvement in the community.
At last year’s festival, Jan Weinman, a New Bridges board member, heard a fairgoer kvelling about the event.
“I have always felt that Jews shouldn’t call attention to themselves,” the fairgoer said, “but this day, I am proud to be a Jew.”