For the past three years the Jerusalem Community Woodstock Festival has taken place in the capital’s Baka neighborhood at the Silo Café outdoor venue. The festival celebrates the spirit and music of the 1969 Woodstock festival.
We’ve hosted bands paying tribute to The Beatles, The Grateful Dead, Country Joe and the Fish, Santana, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Rolling Stones, Janis Joplin and many more. Next week, on June 23, beginning at 7:30 p.m., for the first time in two years, we are free to celebrate this open-air festival without any coronavirus restrictions.
Among the artists in the lineup will be ELITE – a Chicago-style band performing a medley of Woodstock-era songs. Following will be Yaffo 97 performing the best of Lynyrd Skynyrd and well-known Woodstock-era songs. Lastly, we are excited to welcome back Dorban Hills from Kibbutz Gesher Haziv. Their Grateful Dead performance was among the most exciting of past festivals. Even those who never heard of The Grateful Dead couldn’t help themselves from dancing to their electric show.
As in past festivals, the show will begin with the talented youth bands of the Jerusalem School of Rock, performing the music of Joni Mitchell, Jimi Hendrix, Melanie, Joan Baez and others. The Jerusalem School of Rock organizes teen bands that meet at the municipal music center and have the opportunity to perform at the teen-friendly monthly events at local professional venues.
Emunah
This year, the festival is partnering with Emunah Jerusalem, which supports children’s homes, daycare centers, at-risk youth and young women’s programs and more all over the country. Emunah was the first religious women’s organization in Israel and was responsible for opening the first day centers, originally to absorb orphans from the Holocaust. Since then it has established 125 daycare centers for disadvantaged families, five children’s homes, 10 counseling and crisis centers, a special program for National Service female volunteers in need of support, four high schools and a college for the arts. More recently, Emunah also opened a domestic violence shelter.
The venue for the festival, Silo Café, is well-known in Jerusalem for its great vibes. Located in the parking lot of the First Station, it has a large outdoor area that often hosts cultural and culinary events, both kosher and vegetarian. The Silo’s vegetarian restaurant is among the best in the city. Lahava’s Indian cuisine will be among the food available before and during the festival.
Next week’s event will be the first of four Woodstock festivals this summer. The others will take place on July 14, August 25 and September 15.
To order advanced tickets, send a message to 054-810-8918.
www.worldemunah.org/about-us/; first Jerusalem Community Woodstock Festival: https://fb.me/e/33ECCETu8.
The writer is the organizer of the Jerusalem Community Woodstock Festival.