Welcome to the 2022 Jewish Heritage Festival. We are so pleased to be back after postponing the 2020 Festival due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. What a two year stretch it has been. We have lost friends and relatives and had few opportunities to join in person as a Community. We have seen our country more divided than it should be. We need more togetherness, the type the Festival provides.
The Festival started as the vision of the Temple Presidents’ Council for Volusia and Flagler Counties. A Steering Committee began meeting in January, 2007 leading to our first Festival in March, 2008 which was a rousing success that attracted 10,000 visitors. As one of our food vendors told the Daytona Beach News-Journal: “This is better than Bike Week.”
The Festival is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation with the sole purpose of putting on this Festival on every other year. Festival funding has come from Sponsorships and tax deductible Family/Individual Donations. We are proud once again to have the Endowment Fund of the Jewish Federation of Volusia and Flagler Counties as our Grand Sponsor as well as great local support from corporate and individual sponsorship.
Our Health Fair this year has Radiology Associates Imaging taking on the role as the Fair’s sponsor and we thank them for that! We are excited by the response of our medical community as they share the Jewish Spirit of Tikun Olam – to repair the world.
The Festival features continuous nationally acclaimed entertainment. Attendees can feast on Kosher, Israeli and Jewish-style food. We have Israeli and Judaica artists and vendors, Jewish Organization booths, and exhibits including a Holocaust Memorial and Jewish Hall of Fame. Our Hall of Fame is a multidimensional display that includes a Shtetl exhibit, Righteous Gentiles plays, an Israel exhibition, an Ancient Hebrew scroll exhibit and much much more! Children’s entertainment is available throughout the day including a Matzoh making, inflatables, face painting, balloon artist, a petting zoo and camel rides. You will even run into Moses and other biblical characters!
The Festival will express the heart and soul of Jewish Florida. For a single day it will intertwine the sounds, sights, and spirit of Jewish culture and bring together every facet of the Jewish Community, young and old, singles and families, regardless of their religious and cultural background. Like other cultural festivals, we also want to share our heritage with others – you don’t have to be Jewish to enjoy a Jewish Festival! Let’s celebrate Jewish Heritage. Please don’t miss an opportunity to be part of this special event.
To stay updated on Festival news, please Click Here to “Like” our Facebook page. You can also Click Here to see this year’s program.
– Jeffrey Bigman, Chair