The Saskatchewan Jewish Arts Festival is a relatively new festival with a few years under its belt. This year, it runs next Wednesday through Sunday with art, a book discussion and lecture, a Klezmer Shabbat service, and a Jewish cooking workshop, among other events.

It kicks off on Wednesday night with the play 18 Jews Order Chinese Food at Persephone Theatre. This will also be the first preview night of Persephone’s run for this play written by local playwright Jenna Berenbaum, coinciding with the first night of the festival. One of the festival organizers, Malvina Rapko, says there will also be a pre-show panel prior to the play and then afterwards, there is a dance party featuring DJ Butt Mitzva.

She adds that they like to have public discussions at the festival so anyone can ask questions about things they are curious about when it comes to Jewish life and history. The discussion on Thursday night is about the book Babi Yar, which highlights the Massacre of Babi Yar where almost 34,000 Jews over two days were killed in one location in Ukraine in 1941. It will be at the Ukrainian Museum of Canada 7pm, Thursday night. All of the events are free except for the play.

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