More than a year ago, klezmer music lovers Raye Holab and Ben Sweet embarked on a “dreaming session” that ended in a bold idea — a multi-day Colorado festival dedicated to the Eastern European style of Jewish folk music and the culture around it.
“It really is an amazing space,” Holab said, of Colorado’s klezmer scene, “especially for … Jews on the margins, queer people, people who are just interested in world music and folk music.”
For Sweet, attending klezmer music festivals as a child had a huge impact, and he saw as he got older how powerful the Jewish queer community, in particular, can be in these spaces.
“The music coming out of this was just mind-blowing and incredible,” said Sweet. “So when I moved to Denver, I was like, ‘wow, there's already so much here. I want to grow that. I want to expand that.’ So this has been a dream of mine for a really long time.”
The inaugural KlezKolorado festival kicks off Friday, May 17 at the JCC Ranch Camp in Elbert. The three-day festival will feature 10 bands and musicians, along with workshops on Jewish history, art, and culture, as well as opportunities for social interaction.
“It's also a unique opportunity to showcase some other ways people are working with klezmer and Jewish music in the country and bringing some of that energy and that creativity to Colorado and the scene here,” said Daniel Siegel, an engagement program manager with the Jewish Community Center of Denver, which is producing KlezKolorado.
The festival builds on a local scene that comes together for monthly “Festo Festo” events around Denver.
At the April gathering at Denver’s Mercury Cafe, co-organizer Eitan Kantor said the goal is not only to celebrate and preserve Ashkenazi Jewish culture or the horn music of Serbia or the dance of Bulgaria, “but also to be a place where these cultures, these musics develop where they blossom and become new.”
KlezKolorado arrives during a time of increased tensions and conflict at home and around the world, including the October 7 attack on Israel, the war in Gaza and the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. However, organizers believe that the festival can provide a space for dialogue and understanding and a sense of belonging for all who attend.
"We're in a political moment related to the conflict in Israel and Gaza, which has created a lot of division and sadness and anger," Kantor said. "And I see this event, which will almost definitely include people of diverse opinions, as an opportunity for people to really hear each other."
“Klezmer demands us to look and bear witness to each other and to each other's humanity. It's so tied into the music, you can't escape that. And I think right now, if we can soften our hearts a little bit to find each other's humanity in this moment, that feels important. And music to me is a starting point of that,” Sweet added.
Siegel believes KlezKolorado provides a reason for people to come together and learn from each other.
“I would say, just be willing to have fun and connect with other folks and listen to the music and enjoy it and let that experience kind of drive what you're seeing and what you're learning," he urged.
When organizers began planning the festival a year ago, they couldn’t have anticipated this global moment when planning began a year ago, Holab said. “I think neither of us anticipated being in leadership roles in this way at this time. But at the same time, it's been really rewarding to get to interact with a really varied community and have this space where we can just really enjoy one another and focus on music and art.”
The first KlezKolorado klezmer music festival kicks off Friday at the JCC Ranch Camp in Elbert, Colo. and runs through this Sunday.
