Fest07 Memories

Smiles from Limmudfest07

Around 550 people of all ages, including 120 children, descended on Cliff College in the Peak District National Park to enjoy Limmudfest07 - Limmud's summer festival of learning and culture.

The theme of Limmudfest07 was Freedom, and this imbued the entire festival - from the Freedom Trail and the Promised Land field, to the programme of presenters. Educators and activists came from around the world, including James Smith of the Aegis Trust, Levi Lauer of Israeli social justice organisation Atzum, and Melissa Weintraub of Rabbis for Human Rights who got participants thinking about how they could make a difference to the world around them. Award-winning writers including Naomi Alderman and Nathan Englander, fresh from the Edinburgh Festival, shared their methods of writing and what inspired them. And world-renowned Jewish thinkers and educators such as Esther Lapian, Clive Lawton, Raphael Zarum and Jeremy Gordon shared their enthusiasm and knowledge of Jewish text and ways of learning.

Aside from that there was lots of fun for all the family including an art tent open all day where participants could learn to do anything from making challah boards to creating elephants out of mud brought from Israel. They could learn to make a kite and fly it in the beautiful surroundings, or play new games with a giant earth ball. Families were treated to exclusive performances by dynamic American musician and "acoustic artist" Billy Jonas.

The nights were filled by performances from wide range of music performers from around the world including Canadian folk singer Jen Charlton, Israel's top funk and hip-hop band Coolooloosh, klezmer and dance "mash-up collective" Ghettoplotz, and DJ Socalled with his innovative brand of dance, hiphop, Klezmer and cantorial music mixed in with a good dose of comedy.

It all made Limmudfest07 the epitome of Jewish cool, with new collaborations and expressions of Jewish culture, and making it the hippest place to be this summer.

Fest 07 Gallery

Pictures from this year's Limmudfest. More

Quotes from participants

Read what some of this year's Fest-goers had to say about the experience. More

TikkunTrek 07

For the 24 hours prior to Limmudfest, over 60 people took on the TikkunTrek challenge. Read about the event and see the picture gallery. More