The city of Chernihiv is now hosting the VII city Sholom-Aleichem festival of Jewish culture, which has already become traditional for the oblast center.

During the opening ceremony, the leader of the Chernihiv Jewish community, Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC) General Council member Semen Belman said, “We have been holding this festival for seven years consecutively, but we have not repeated ourselves once – we always have a new program and new events. The number seven is lucky for the Jews, and we hope that the festival will be top-level.”

The head of the Chernihiv City Council Department of Culture Oleg Vasyta stressed the traditionality of the festival for the Chernihiv Oblast center. “Throughout the years of its existence, our festival has become known both in the capital of Ukraine and in the State of Israel,” he said at the opening.

The festival, which will take place until the 2nd of April, will include the presentation of Semen Belman's book “Editor's Column,” the international scholarly seminar “Jews of Left-Bank Ukraine,” and a run of the film “Papa” (“Dad”).

On the first day of the festival, the city Palace of Culture hosted a concert that included bands from the Chernihiv Jewish community, the Vinnitsa vocal ensemble “Simha,” and Andrei Tereschenko (accordion).

The festival was organized by the Chernihiv City Jewish Society and the Chernihiv City Council Department of Culture. The organization was aided by the EAJC, "Joint," and the Jewish charity Hesed Esther.