Euca Burrows, who produces Palo Alto’s To Life! Street Festival, says she stuck to three key principles in planning this year’s event.
First, failure is not an option. Second, there’s always a Plan B. And finally, she says, “Make sure you have fun along the way. We work way too hard not to enjoy ourselves.”
If all goes well, the hard work will pay off when up to 12,000 Jews from across the Bay Area flock to Palo Alto on Sunday, Sept. 18, to enjoy the sixth annual edition of the festival.
Presented by the J-Connect program of the Albert L. Schultz Jewish Community Center, To Life! is the Peninsula’s biggest Jewish-themed public event. Sometimes, bigger is better, and organizers promise the 2005 festival will be the best yet.
Featured events include the Jewish American Idol singing competition — back this year after a smash debut in 2004. Paula Abdul won’t be on hand, but scores of Jewish kids ages 6 to 17 will compete for prizes valued at more than $1,000.
Produced by the National Jewish Theater Festival (the same folks behind “MeshugaNutcracker”), the contest will allow entrants to choose from a broader list of songs this year.
As usual, the festival’s Tents of Community will feature booths representing scores of organizations serving the Jewish community. Add first-rate entertainment on three stages, dozens of jury-selected artists and the yummiest Jewish foods this side of Dizengoff Street, and festivalgoers should have a blast all day long. As always, admission is free.
On the main stage this year, Meshuggenismo! — a 10-piece salsa band that spices up their music with a touch of kosher klezmer. Ladino folk singer Mark Levy will also perform, as will singer/songwriter Judith Kaye Friedman.
Reaching out to an even broader audience, J-Connect and festival director Stephanie Brown also booked Jewish hip-hop artists Tim Barsky (of “Bright River” fame) and Dr. J$ and the OJG’s Hip Hop Shabbat Crew. For comedy fans, the National Jewish Theater Festival is presenting ComedySportz on the main stage.
For children, this year’s festival offers something unusual: ethical training. The Wisdom of the Sages booth features activities like the Wheel of Values, an interactive game that presents kids with images and stories from Jewish history then asks them questions such as: “Who is strong?” and “Who is wise?”
Visual artists working in a variety of media, from glasswork and ceramics to photography and textiles, will be selling their work.
Festival attendees who would rather make art than buy it can participate in a gigantic do-it-yourself mosaic, on site and ready for tiling in the Tents of Community section.
As for the food this year, Brown says, “we have the ever popular kosher hot dogs and burgers from Jewish Study Network, which features Orthodox rabbis doing the cooking. We also have everything from falafel to Vietnamese spring rolls. Everything is Kosher or vegetarian.”
And of course, for the young and the reckless, there’s the 26-foot climbing wall.
Mounting an event of this magnitude requires a team effort, the organizers say. That means triple checking on city permits, suppliers, security and vendor needs. Up to 150 volunteers augment the paid staff, all working to create the illusion that it takes no work at all.
“It’s my responsibility to make sure everything is up and running for everybody,” says Burrows, “from the artists to the performers to attendees.”
Burrows is quick to add that staging the festival in Palo Alto is part of the pleasure. “They’re wonderful,” she says of the city officials she works with. “We have a great reputation for compliance.”
Other sponsors this year include the Koret Foundation, the Taube Foundation for Jewish Life and Culture, the Saal Family Foundation and the S.F.-based Jewish Community Federation.
Says Brown, “The thing that amazes me most is the broad-based support from every synagogue, the other JCCs and every Jewish organization. People are clamoring to get in.”
Meanwhile, as the big day draws closer, she grows ever more excited. She may be the overextended organizer-in-chief, but Brown never loses sight of what To Life! means to the Bay Area Jewish community.
“We try to make it so people can get in touch with some piece of their Jewish identity,” she says. “Maybe hearing beautiful music or seeing a mezuzah. Whatever connects on an emotional level, that’s what I want people to tap into and stir a desire to deepen that connection. Culture and art is the way to do that in the most inviting way possible.”