The 20th annual Shoreline Jewish Festival will take place Sunday, August 2, from 12–5 PM on the Guilford Green. Marking two decades on the Green and celebrating Jewish life in the USA as America turns 250, the festival features various styles of Jewish music, traditional and Israeli fair food (all kosher), a Jewish book sale, vendors and crafters, and children's crafts and activities.
“This yearly celebration of Jewish life on the Guilford Green is a uniquely American experience. The Liberty Bell is famously engraved with a verse from the Torah, ‘proclaim liberty throughout the land,’ describing the Jubilee, the fiftieth year of freedom, which makes America’s 250th its fifth Jubilee. It is an opportune moment to give extra thanks, with music and a few bells, for the freedoms of expression, assembly and religion that let us practice our faith openly and joyously,” says Rabbi Yossi Yaffe of Chabad of the Shoreline.
This year's musical lineup features the NY Klezmer Series All-Stars, Yehuda and Noah Solomon of Moshav and Soulfarm, and the Mr. Shabbos Band.
The NY Klezmer Series All-Stars bring the sound that started it all: klezmer, the exuberant dance music Jewish immigrants carried from Eastern Europe and made their own in America. This five-piece traditional band is drawn from the acclaimed New York Klezmer Series and led by its artistic director, Aaron Alexander, a drummer whose credits include the Grammy-winning Klezmatics, Frank London's Klezmer Brass All-Stars, Klezmerfest, and his own Midrash Mish Mosh. Clarinet, fiddle, and brass trade soaring melodies over the irresistible rhythms of freylekhs and horas, the dance tunes that have filled Jewish weddings and celebrations for generations.
Yehuda and Noah Solomon bring together two of the most beloved names in modern Jewish music. Brothers and longtime bandleaders, Yehuda fronts Moshav and Noah fronts Soulfarm, and between them they helped pioneer a whole generation of Jewish rock. Raised in a renowned musical family of American expats in the Israeli village of Mevo Modi'im, they came of age between two traditions, and their sound lives right where those traditions meet: Hebrew words and soulful nigunim carried on the folk, bluegrass, country, and rock they grew up on, with a current of Middle Eastern melody running underneath. On stage together the brothers trade verses and harmonies and turn a concert into a high-energy, heartfelt celebration, the kind of set that gets the whole crowd on its feet and singing along.
The Mr. Shabbos Band is Josh Alpert on guitar, banjo, mandolin, trumpet, flute and bagpipes, joined by his brother Pesach Alpert on drums, Menashe Wagner on trombone, guitar and percussion, Mordechai Harris on bass, Cantor Eric Freeman, and Benny Shwarcz on guitar and percussion. Together they play a unique mix of Jewish and biblical lyrics with country, bluegrass, and rockabilly. For the young and the young at heart, Mr. Shabbos leads an interactive sing-along that is guaranteed to get everyone up on their feet and dancing.
Artists and artisans will sell a variety of Judaica, jewelry, clothing and artwork. Books of Jewish interest will be available for sale for both children and adults. Festival-goers can choose from a variety of (kosher) fair favorites, including pulled beef brisket, hamburgers, hot dogs, falafel (an Israeli fried-chickpea specialty), grilled chicken schwarma, potato knishes, fresh mini donuts, cotton candy, sno-cones and more. Children's activities include inflatable bouncy fun, as well as Jewish-themed arts & crafts projects.
Primary festival sponsor is Shoreline TMS & Interventional Psychiatry. Other sponsors include in memory of Mr. Matthew Evans, the Jewish Federation & Jewish Foundation of Greater New Haven, Gladeview Rehab & Health Care in Old Saybrook, and Renewal by Andersen of Southern New England.
Admission is free, but please register online. Food, crafts and vendor items are for sale. Artists can reserve a booth for the day for a fee of $85. To help sponsor this unique event, to reserve a booth, or for more information and to download the app, visit www.ShorelineJewishFestival.com
About Chabad of the Shoreline
Chabad-Lubavitch of the Shoreline, based in Guilford, Connecticut, has been led by Rabbi Yossi and Rochel Baila Yaffe since 1999. It serves the Shoreline and River regions with Jewish programming for all ages, and its events and classes have earned a reputation across the state for their professionalism, their educational content, and their sheer fun. “We are about Judaism, not affiliation,” says Rochel Baila Yaffe. “Whether or not you belong to a synagogue or other Jewish institution, Chabad can add spirituality, study, community, or just some good soul food, to your Jewish life.”