About the Festival

What is the Jewish Festival?

The Jewish Festival is a community-wide event celebrating Jewish life and culture.  We offer something for everyone – Jewish and Israeli food, Temple tours with our Rabbis, educational exhibits, entertainment featuring Jewish music and dance, an artisan area with craft vendors, and a Kid’s Zone with crafts and activities. During Covid, we held a drive-through Jewish Food Festival due to the pandemic, and last year we held our first in-person festival after two years of a drive-thru festival. We are also excited to let you know that we have moved our festival from the fall to the spring.  Our goal is to continue the annual tradition of community outreach by sharing Jewish food and culture in the Triad area.

KIDS ZONE

We are so excited to offer inflatables, crafts, cotton candy, popcorn, and so much more at our Kids' Zone!

Meet Famous Jewish Characters or People

Miriam, King Solomon, Moses, Abraham, Rachel, and Noah walk the festival grounds, dressed as they did five thousand years ago.

Would you like to ask Moses how he felt when he received the ten commandments?  Wonder what it was like for Abraham to be told to sacrifice his own son Isaac? Get live on-the-spot answers to your questions!

Entertainment

Every year the Festival hosts a range of performers. Members of the community, bands, volunteers, and more! They help provide musical entertainment for visitors to the Festival, makes sure to give a listen when you’re here!

Sanctuary Tours

Temple Emanuel and its sanctuary are rich in symbolism and ancient traditions. Enjoy a rabbi-led 30-minute tour to learn more about Jewish symbols and religion.

What is the symbolism of twelve windows in the sanctuary?

 Why is there an 18-foot stone wall on the bima (podium)?

The small light above the ark is always on.  Why?

What do the gold letters mean that run around the wall at the top of the sanctuary?  Why are two of the letters bigger than the others?

What are the pictures in the stained glass windows and what do they mean?

Education Room

Visit the education room to learn more about Judaism and international Jewry, the Southern Jewish community, and more!