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Friday, August 25, 2023

European Days of Jewish Culture 2023, about to start!

The opening ceremony will take place in the Great Synagogue of Brussels on September 3

The European Days of Jewish Culture are putting the finishing touches on its annual celebration that highlights the richness of Jewish culture and heritage across the European continent.

The European Days of Jewish Culture are held every year around a central theme that serves as inspiration for all the activities that take place in a decentralised, pluralistic and open way from the first Sunday in September. The AEPJ has coordinated this event at European level since its beginnings, giving cohesion, visibility and relevance to the activities organised.

The theme for the 2023 edition is Memory. This year’s the programme will take place under the umbrella and with funding from the European Union through its Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme (CERV), and it has also been granted the prestigious UNESCO patronage.

The Opening Ceremony to launch this year’s edition is set to take place at the emblematic Grande Synagogue de l’Europe in Brussels.
The city of Girona, currently holding the Vice-presidency of the AEPJ and also the General Secretariat, will be represented there by the 5th Deputy Mayor Mr. Sergi Font, and the director of the Patronat Call de Girona, Mrs. Assumpció Hosta.

In Catalonia, this program was launched in 1999 at the initiative of Patronat Call de Girona. Also in 1999, the Jewish Film Festival began to be held in Barcelona. In 2016, these two events were joined by Séfer, the Jewish Book Festival. All these activities, already consolidated, constitute the ideal basis for expanding this frame of reference, integrating more entities and extending the "European Days of Jewish Culture" project to the months of September to November 2023.
A joint presentation of the programme in Catalonia is also planned as well in Barcelona, next September 8th at 12 noon, by all the entities and cities participating this year.

See the general program of the more than thirty participating countries here.