A brand new festival is coming to Saskatchewan showcasing arts, culture, and international talent.
The first-ever Saskatchewan Jewish Arts Festival kicks off Wednesday.
“We and the Jewish community in Saskatchewan want to connect with the general community,” Festival Curator Joel Bernbaum excitedly told Global News.
The five-day event is filled with performances, panel sessions, music, film, and Shabbat services in several locations across Saskatoon including the Persephone Theatre, the Broadway Threatre, the Ukrainian Museum of Canada and the Congregation Agudas Israel Synagogue.
A partnership between the arts festival and the Persephone Theatre is bringing Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story to Saskatoon residents.
Ben Caplan, performer, creator and composer of the show, said he was honoured to be included in the festival.
“It’s kind of a mash-up between a theatre show and a concert,” Caplan described.
“It tells the story of these two Romanian refugees who flee to Canada in 1908. And it really uses this specific story to try to get at the universal of what it means to leave your home country behind and to forge a new identity in a new place,” he added.
Festival producer Malvina Rapko said this festival is a combination of learning and celebration.
“There was a need to really bring the larger Saskatchewan community into what Jewish culture is like,” Rapko said. “We’re having this event in Saskatoon but this is very much a Saskatchewan festival.”
“We are a small community all throughout the province. So we really want an opportunity for people to come from other cities and towns nearby,” she added.
Bernbaum explained that the current climate has become divisive and tense, so he hopes this festival can bridge a divide.
“There are too many examples these days of polarization, hate, and conflict between people. The best way to bring people together is to celebrate together,” he said.
“We all live in this city and this province together. Let’s share and celebrate as one community,” he added.
Rapko said the feedback has been strong, especially from those who do not identify as Jewish.
“It’s been an incredible experience to see how people have responded. There’s been so much positive curiosity,” she said.
“People have said things like ‘Oh, I’ve never gone into a synagogue before or I never even knew that there was a Jewish community here’,” she added.
Most of the events are free except for the Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story performance.
However, according to Bernbaum, the Saskatoon B’nai Brith is offering accessible discounted tickets.
The full breakdown can be found here.
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