23rd Klezmer Festival 2010
The ever popular Safed Klezmer Festival will be held on Tuesday August 10th, Wednesday August 11th and Thursday August 12th. Find out about all of the great 2010 performances.
Whether you come to listen to really good music or just to soak up the atmosphere you are sure to have a great time. Safed during Klezmer is the only place to be and the streets of Safed team with people day and night. The main street of the city can be even busier at two in the morning during Klezmer than it is at two in the afternoon the rest of the year! So come and see for yourself and join in the fun.
Why Do The Dates Change?
Safed is also a very popular destination for very religious families whose lifestyle is not usually compatible with the klezmer crowd. The city, therefore, very sensibly tries to keep the two groups somewhat separate by varying the Festival dates from year to year according to the Jewish calendar. This also helps prevent the city from becoming unbearably overcrowded. Klezmer is usually either before the religious schools' main three week vacation period or afterwards. This year these school holidays are very early according to the secular calendar, even though Klezmer is actually happening on the same secular dates as last year - according to the Jewish dates it will be at the end of Av, beginning of Elul.
New Venue
There will be a very welcome addition to the venues this year. On the Festival's last night, the amazing 700 year old recently restored The Khan of the White Donkey in the Artist's Quarter will host violinist Oren Tzor and instrumentalist Nadav Bahar. They will be playing something a bit different - world music with a Jewish flavor.
No Cars
Unless you are a Safed resident you will have to park your car in specially provided parking lots on the edge of town as no cars are allowed in and out of Safed after about 4pm. There will be shuttle buses back and forth provided for a small fee. So why not come for the whole three days and stay in one of Safed's lovely zimmers or hotels?
Book Now
Places to stay in Safed book up quickly, with some people reserving a year in advance, so it's a good idea to book your holiday zimmer now. If you leave it till later you may find everything will be full. Of course you can just come for the evening and enjoy wandering the streets of Safed until the early hours hearing music wherever you go.
Street Market
The huge street market has loads of interesting chatzkas, clothes, hammocks, instruments, shoes, and naturally what you would expect at a music festival - artists CD's and videos. Food stalls abound with everything from French crepes to Yemenite food, as well as cotton candy, hot dogs and other street food. Cafes and restaurants open especially for festival time around the main venues so you certainly won't go hungry while you listen! Most restaurants and cafes are open until the last customer leaves, maybe as late as 3 in the morning!
Schedule
Each year the exact mix of the Festival is kept a mystery until very near the actual date when the schedule is revealed. Check our website periodically for details and we will give you the complete schedule just as soon as we have it from the Festival organizers.
