Long Beach, Calif. – February 7, 2008 –JEWLICIOUS FESTIVAL 4.0, the largest youth festival of contemporary Jewish culture and identity will be held in Long Beach, CA February 29 – March 2, 2008 at the Alpert Jewish Community Center bringing hundreds of students and young professionals together for 48 hours of music, food and fun.
The annual gathering celebrating its fourth year is proud to be going green incorporating all things eco friendly including green kosher food, uber-recycling, composting, green friendly plates, cups, dinnerware, green friendly printing, paper reduction, water reduction, greeneducation, and discussions on ecology and Judaism. JEWLICIOUS FESTIVAL 4.0 brings together Jews from every denomination and across the political spectrum uniting trend-setters, artists and spirit seekers; Ashkenazim, Sephardim,Atheists, agnostics, skeptics and believers; designers, activists, jocks and hipsters. Jewlicious Festival is agathering of the Tribe, an innovative conference, an inspiring Shabbat experience, and an uplifting event unlike any other weekend.
This year’s festival will feature Grammy Nominee/ Jewish reggae sensation Matisyahu, speaking on spirituality along with his wife Tahlia Miller who will be screening her documentary film at Docu-Film-Slam entitled “CANT TOUCH THISâ€, a Jewish perspective on the laws of attraction.
The main line-ups for the two concert stages this year have been finalized – Saturday Night’s Festival Stage and Friday—Sunday’s Acoustic Stage. Headlining this year’s Festival Stage is veteran band, Moshav. They just returned from their tour of Australia, and are buzzing to play Jewlicious. Y-Love, internationally acclaimed hip-hop rapper, and DJ Handler, founder of Shemspeed, and Modular Moods records. Y-Love and Erez have been featured everywhere, and made Forward 50 this year.
In addition, the phenomenon that is Yuri Lane, the Human Beat Box, will be joining Y-Love on stage. Rounding out the main show this year is Jewlicious participant favorite Rav Shmuel, one of the funniest and engaging performers ever to grace the stage at Jewlicious. MC’ing and performing some of his hilarious music, the Jewish world’s answer to Weird Al, Eric Schwartz, aka Smooth-e. Last year we had a short cameo appearance by the LA based comedian/musician, and he electrified the crowd with his wit, stage antics, and polished performance. Not to mention he is the only performer to crowd-surf Jewlicious to date.
A new venue for our Festival is this year’s Acoustic Stage. Here Jewlicious Festival will present new and upcoming talent from around the country, Jazz, and Slam Poetry. Headlining the Acoustic Stage are two singer-songwriters from the East Coast. Chana Rothman brings Jewish sensibility and positive vibes to socially conscious rock. Her debut album on Oyhoo records did very well among critics and fans. Adam Weinberg, based in Miami, writes and performs instrumental Jewish music and has accompanied Matisyahu. His debut album is mesmerizing, powerful, and unforgettable. The Festival will also include Kosha Dillz, DJ Eric Rosen & 12 Tribes, Stephanie Pressman, Zach Singer, Flying Shi-Tsu Quartet, Shaul Faulkner, and Terrapins.
“Young Jews want to drop divisions in the Jewish world and seek unity, spirituality, and new ways to celebrate their identity.” says Jewlicious Festival Director Rabbi Yonah Bookstein. “This is more than just a music festival or a conference, it’s a Jewish unity event unlike you’ve never seen…unless you’ve already been to Jewlicious before.”
In 2005, the first Jewlicious weekend drew over a hundred people. Jewlicious 2.0 doubled in size, with 350 people, over 40 campuses represented and special guest appearance by Grammy Nominee/Jewish reggae sensation MATISYAHU. This past year’s festival drew over 500 guests with this year’s event expected to draw a record crowd. Interest on social media sites like MySpace and Facebook have organizers preparing for up to 700 people over the three day weekend.
Speakers, workshops, art, films, games, music, dancing, singing, vendors, chocolate tasting and feasting are all integral parts of the Jewlicious Festival. Accommodations are on-site at the Alpert JCC and at nearby hotels being one of the largest sleepovers that isn’t sleep-away camp. Tickets for the three days are $48 for full-time students, $72 for general admission.
“Jewlicious is not Israel but it is the most spiritually fulfilling, friendship inspiring, sensory engrossing experience you may ever have outside of Israel,†says former festival goer, Josh W. For an updated list of speakers & performers, ticket information, and news regarding the conference please visit www.jewliciousfestival.com.
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