This year's Jewish Culture Festival will start on the 27th of June (that is Friday) with the Receiving of Shabbat that will happen in Tempel Synagogue. Among all the concerts taking place during the festival one may hear cantoral singing performed by Benzion Miller, Itzchak Meir Helfgot and Azi Schwartz, as well as concerts of bands such as Oy Division, Kroke and Konsonans Retro - a family brass band from Ukraine (contemporary cooperating with Christian Dawid - one of the most remarkable European clarinetist).

Jazz- and Klezmer-lovers should especially pay attention to night concerts (starting exactly at midnight) featuring Paul Brody's Jazz Session as well as Oy Division - Israeli Klezmer group.As each year Jewish dances will be led by Steven Weintraub and Hasidic dance lessons by Jill Gellerman. Jewish cooking classes, where one can get to know more about Jewish and kosher cuisine, will be organised in Eden hotel.
Jewish Culture Festival includes many more additional events: lectures, workshobs and exhibitions. All will be culminated with open-air "Shalom on Szeroka street" concert - that is to start on the 5rd of July at 6pm and presenting all of the music stars of this year's festival. On the official website of the Jewish Culture Festival Association  one may find the detailed plan of the whole event as well as ticket prices and information where to get them. For more info see the links below.

Hotels in Kazimierz district:

David Hotel 

David hotel i located in the former Jewish district. It offers neatly furnished and air-conditioned rooms.

Location: Kazimierz district

Capacity: 21 rooms

Facilities: restaurant; elevator; air-conditioning;

More info

Eden Hotel 

In the former Jewish quarter - its warm and comfortable interior design and ambience accent its Jewish past.

Location: Kazimierz district

Capacity: 27 rooms

Facilities: sauna; salt grotto; bar; Mikveh;

More info

view other hotels in Krakow...

See more films from previous Jewish Culture Festivals in Krakow...

In Poland, where the issue of Jewish-Polish relations is still fragile, events such as Krakow Jewish Culture Festival promote dialog and the opportunity to get to know Jewish Culture better. For young people the festival might be the only chance to meet Jews - in a country that few of them still inhabits nowadays. Apart from this, Jewish Culture Festival is enjoyable entertainment that brings together artists of Jewish culture from all over the world - music bands, soloists, choirs, jazz musicians, dance teachers and many many more. For the Poles this event is a way of promotion of Jewish culture and paying a homage to the community that used to live in Poland. For all the visitors, however, the festival is something more than just an interesting happening - it embraces with amazing power all of those who attend it. We especially recommend taking part in the Krakow Jewish Culture Festival as the event is worth paying a visit to the beautiful and reviving Kazimierz and will surely make you want to come back to the Royal City of Krakow.

As always the annual Krakow Jewish Culture Festival focuses on various aspects of Jewish life. It enables those who are interested to acquire knowledge of Jewish religious practices as well as day-to-day life. Apart from the educational aspect of how life in Kazimierz district used to be there are many musical performances and also art and language workshops held throughout the nine days of the festival.
For music-lovers especially the festival is a great opportunity to encounter different styles of Jewish music . Kazimierz will resound with synagogue song , hasidic , classical, Jewish folk and – very popular nowadays – klezmer music . Some of the synagogues come back to life during  this short period and are once again filled with people and sounds of music and prayer – and then wait quietly for the next festival.
For those who do not know the history of Kazimierz and the Jews who used to live there, there are tours conducted by professional guides. During presentations and performances you can hear stories told by Jews about the tradition, customs and their everyday life.
Especially popular are the many workshops that are organised within the festival, such as: Hasidic dance, Jewish cuisine , Hebrew calligraphy and Jewish paper cutting . Overall, there are almost 100 events taking place during the festival.
The major happening is the final concert called “Shalom on Szeroka street” that attracts the widest audience of all the events. It is an open-air concert featuring the brightest “music stars” of the Jewish Culture Festival. It is believed that during the most recent festival up to 13 000 people attended this concert. The audience does not mind neither the rain nor the bad weather conditions - it doesn't always rain. The main thing is the terrific atmosphere that brings people joy and understanding.
Krakow is worth visiting in any time of a year. If you, however, still have not chosen the date - the period when the Jewish Culture Festival is taking place is surely to be highly recommended. When reserving a hotel keep in mind that Kazimierz district is very popular among tourists during the festival - therefore booking in advance is advised. You can also choose accommodation outside Kazimierz - as it is withing a walking distance from the Old Town of Krakow. In case you are not available for the holidays in Krakow during Jewish Culture Festival, but feel attracted by events connected with Jewish Culture, you can attend the concerts offered by Galicia Jewish Museum and Jewish-style restaurants situated in the former Jewish district (to get to know more read the description of Kazimierz district and the Jewish heritage tour).

See also: Everyday Krakow Blog