12,000 Festival Attendees Come Together at the Greater Chicago Jewish Festival to Celebrate Jewish Community in Complete Safety

After 45 years producing the Greater Chicago Jewish Festival, this Festival will stand out in our collective memories. The music was fantastic and made the day joyful; the food was truly delicious; the art was inspiring and enhanced hundreds of Jewish homes; the family activities sent hundreds of face painted kids home knowing more about Judaism; the community sing and community dancing brought adults and kids exuberance; and the organization info tables reminded us of the complexity and intentionality of Jewish communal life! …but we have done this 22 times before. Why will this one stand out in our collective memories?

Based on the count on the metal detectors and the entry donations, approximately 12,000 people came out to attend this daylong celebration of Living Judaism. We are the longest running Jewish festival in America and we were driven to find a way to produce it again to demonstrate that the Jewish community is strong, vital and multifaceted and will not be intimidated or frozen by fear.
Our concept was to provide remarkable and all-encompassing security at the highest level so that attendees would encourage family and friends to come because it is secure! And they did.
We provided a tapestry of Jewish life with 18 music groups (75 performers) on 3 stages, 30 artists, 7 authors, 9 kosher restaurants, 60 organizations, 2 Jewish day schools providing programing, and other exhibitors and activities.

We designed the 6-hour Festival to create a joyful and celebratory community experience where people bumped into friends they had not seen for awhile or shared a song with someone they did not know before.
We are proud to have produced the Festival in spite of the rise of antisemitism. We felt that although it was not easy and had great cost, we needed such an event. We were determined to provide an absolute sense of safety and security on the grounds, including when arrival and departure so attendees could relax and embrace the happiness of community.

And yet, we also created a special activity in the entrance to the Festival, with poems written about October 7th by those who escaped and families of those who did not. There, people of all ages planted tree saplings in planters that will be transported to Jewish summer camps, day schools and synagogues so small groves go out from the Festival to the broader Jewish community.
Most of all, we delivered what we set out to do 45 years ago, offering up the Heart & Soul of Jewish Chicago so we and our children see that Jewish culture can be joyful, full of energy and something to share with all our neighbors and security.