Ashkenaz Festival, North America’s largest showcase of Jewish performing arts and culture, returns September 3–5

The 11^th edition of Ashkenaz Festival is set to take over Harbourfront Centre, September 3–5. This year’s festival features a new program devoted to Jewish food and a lineup of music, film, theatre, dance and literature, showcasing more than 250 individual artists from over a dozen countries.

Nine-piece supergroup Abraham Inc. headlines September 3 with an explosive musical performance fusing Yiddish, klezmer, funk and hip-hop. The group features the titanic trio of clarinet virtuoso David Krakauer, renowned funk trombonist Fred Wesley (of James Brown & The J.B.’s) and hip-hop renegade and beat architect Socalled. JUNO-nominated Gypsy Kumbia Orchestra brings creative chaos to the Concert Stage, September 4, with a show-stopping combination of Colombian percussion, Roma and klezmer melodies, dance, circus and imagination. Hungarian village folk music legends Muzsikás perform on Labour Day, September 5. The festival concludes on Labour Day with its signature Ashkenaz Parade, a colourful procession of music, dance, theatre, giant puppets and stilt walkers along the waterfront, celebrating the survival and vitality of Yiddish culture worldwide.

“We’re delighted to be a part of the largest celebration of Jewish music and culture in North America,” says Harbourfront Centre’s Artistic Associate, Adriana Sabogal. “Through the Ashkenaz Festival, Toronto can experience the vibrancy and brilliance of Jewish artistic traditions, from traditional styles to cutting-edge, cross-cultural fusion.”

For additional information, please visit harbourfrontcentre.com/festivals/ashkenaz or call 416-973-4000. For information about getting here, visit harbourfrontcentre.com/gettinghere/.

ABOUT HARBOURFRONT CENTRE
Harbourfront Centre is a Canadian charity operating the 10 prime acres of Toronto’s central waterfront as a free and open public site. We celebrate the multiplicities of cultures that comprise Canada and enliven the city through the creative imaginations of artists from across the country and around the globe.

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MEDIA CONTACT
media@harbourfrontcentre.com