LA/Long Beach, Calif. – March 3, 2008 –JEWLICIOUS FESTIVAL 4.0, the largest youth festival of contemporary Jewish culture and identity was held in Long Beach, CA February 29 – March 2, 2008 at the Alpert Jewish Community Center bringing hundreds of students and young professionals together from all over the United States for 54 hours of music, food, conversations and fun. The sold-out gathering celebrated its fourth year in eco-friendly style incorporating Greenkeit, a mandate to limit the festival’s impact on the environment and educate participants about Eco-Judaism.
JEWLICIOUS FESTIVAL 4.0 brought together Jews from every denomination and across the political and ethnic spectrum uniting trend-setters, artists and spirit seekers; Ashkenazim, Sephardim, Atheists, agnostics, skeptics and believers; designers, activists, jocks and hipsters. Jewlicious Festival was again a magical gathering of the Tribe and unlike any other weekend in Jewish history.This year’s festival highlight was Grammy Award Nominee/Jewish reggae sensation Matisyahu, giving an unforgettable special “secret” acoustic performance along with a Q&A session about spirituality. “It was the most intimate, funny, warm unplugged set Matis has ever done,” said Matisyahu’s wife, Tahlia Miller. “In fact, it was the BEST thing he’s ever done.” Tahlia also screened hers and Yocheved Sidof’s documentary film at the Festival’s first Docu-Film-Slam, entitled “CANT TOUCH THIS”, about Jews and intimacy.
Participants sipped on vitaminwater, smartwater, vitaminenergy, POWERade, Steaz Organic Sparkling Green Tea Soda, Coffee Bean coffee and tea, carried around a pink gift bag courtesy of 1Bagatatime, and wore organic cotton American Apparel festival t-shirts. CRE computers & Audiovisual Solutions donated iMac computers so festival-goers were able to chat with friends and blog about the JEWLICIOUS FESTIVAL 4.0 in the computer lounge.
The festival’s opening Friday Night feast served over 500 people at one long table with the help of birthright-Israel.Saturday night’s sold-out Festival Stage included veteran world-beat performers Moshav, East Village Rabbi turned indie-rocker, Rav Shmuel; black orthodox Jewish convert rapper Y-Love, with Jewish Yemenite DJ Erez aka Diwon and Human Beat Box Yuri Lane, and DJ Eric Rosen & 12 Tribes groove machine. The MC was Eric Schwartz, aka Smooth-e, who electrified the crowed with his wit, stage antics, and polished performance. He is the only performer to crowd-surf Jewlicious two year’s in a row.
A popular new venue at the Festival was this year’s Acoustic Stage. Here Jewlicious Festival presented The Flying Shi-Tsu Jazz Quartet, a Jewish comedy slam led by actor/comedian Marty Belafsky (a dozen movies including Newsies, Men In Black 2), and new and upcoming talent from around the country including: Adam Weinberg who accompanied Matisyahu, Chana Rothman, Kosha Dillz, Stephanie Pressman, Zach Singer, Shaul Faulkner, Poetess Faye Gartenberg, and Hartley Wynberg.
An illustrious list of presenters included Adam Mansbach, End of the Jews, Lisa Alcalay Klug Cool Jew, Niles Elliot Goldstein, Gonzo Judaism and God at the Edge, Josh Neuman, publisher of Heeb Magazine, Ruthie Ellenson, Modern Jewish Girls Guide to Guilt, Devora Brous, founder of Israel’s Arab/Jewish eco-peace group Bustan, David Abitbol, founder Jewlicious.com, Norcal winemakers Jonthan Hajdu and Gavriel Weiss of Shira Wines, Rachel Bookstein, Executive Director Beach Hillel, filmmaker Julie Hermalin, Rabbi Leibish Hundert, spiritual leader of Montreal’s Ghetto Shul, Jonathan Boyer of LA’s Happy Minyan, and Elias Parker from Vancouver’s Center for Leadership Initiatives, Eli Winkelman of Hazon, and filmmaker Adam Hootnick (Unsettled).
In 2005, the first Jewlicious drew over a hundred people. Jewlicious 2.0 doubled in size, with 350 people, over 40 campuses represented and special guest appearance by Matisyahu. The festival in 2006 drew over 500 guests, and this year organizers estimate the record crowd was over 700 people. ”We proved again that Jewlicious Festivals reach Jewish students and young professionals regardless of background and with them create a magical weekend whose sum is greater than its parts, and whose spirit endures for months to come,” said Jewlicious Festival Director Rabbi Yonah Bookstein. ”We are grateful for the support and vision of our Patrons; Deanna and Allen Alevy, Barbara and Ray Alpert, who spent their 55th wedding anniversary with the college students, Liz and Jim Breslauer, and The Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation. In addition, we reached our broadest constituency to date, attracting over two dozen partnerships and co-sponsors.”
Panel discussions, workshops, films, games, music, dancing, singing, vendors, wine tasting and feasting were all integral parts of the Jewlicious Festival. Accommodations were on-site at the Alpert JCC and at nearby hotels being one of the largest sleepovers that isn’t sleep-away camp. For more information on Jewlicious Festival 4.0 please visit www.jewliciousfestival.com.
Suzanne Langley
March 16, 2008
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