The 24th annual Boulder Jewish Festival was held on Sunday, June 3rd, and the Festival committee took the opportunity to shake things up in their third year.  The weather cooperated, and the crowds showed up, keeping the booths busy most of the day.  There was all-new signage, and almost every element of the Festival changed places from prior years except for the kid’s area and the food vendors.

“Everyone was very excited about the changes to the festival this year,” said Elizabeth Barrekette, Festival Director.  “We moved the Bands onto the Lawn and distributed other features and activities with the intention to create a more even flow of traffic throughout the Courthouse Lawn.  It seems to have worked.  We estimated over 9,000 visitors to the Festival this year.”

The event got more compact, bringing three blocks worth of art vendors into a single Artists Marketplace on the Mall in place of the large entertainment and information tents.  The Main Stage moved from the Mall itself to the westernmost Courthouse Lawn section, where open grass and a covered stage replaced the single tented stage.  On that stage, three local acts, Or Zimra, Hal Aqua and the Lost Tribe and Sheldon Sands’ Jewish Songwriter Legends alternated with two sets each from 8th Day from Southern California, and the New Orleans Klezmer Allstars.

“My favorite part of the day was all the folks kicking back and sitting around the lawn in front of the stage.  They were having great time listening to the music and then many hopped up and danced when the Boulder Israeli Dance troupe came up,” said Barrekette.

The Festival made more use of the Courthouse Fountain area and the eastern walkways for community and specialty booths, and more than 30 Jewish community organizations particpated this year. Here is the whole list of booths and vendors, with a map, in case you’re trying to remember who you had that great talk with, or that artist you want to get back to.

Barrekette summed up the day: “There are so many moving pieces and so many individuals involved, it is amazing to see them all arrive and come together on the day.  There were definitely some things that did not go to plan but we are pretty good at improvising and filling the gaps.  The planning committee is a collection of stellar individuals.  They are creative, resourceful, hard working and unflappable.  Shout outs to: Adam Sloat, Amanda Glucklich, Beth Blacker, Dana Bondy, Debra Jason, Jodi Zicklin, Lindsey Terry, Marla Shapiro, Mathew Vargas, Melissa Tauber, Scott Bratt, and Terri Miro.”

Feedback on the new arrangements was positive, and the committee would like to hear from you about your experience.

Click on either of the photos, or here, to see all the pictures from the event.