The world’s largest Celebrate Israel parade will fill Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue with tens of thousands of marchers and watchers this Sunday, June 3. As always, Long Island schools, shuls and other Jewish organizations will be well-represented.
The parade, from 54th to 74th streets and 11 am to 4 pm, is a must-do event for friends of Israel who will pour into the city from throughout the tri-state area and beyond.
The theme of this year’s parade, marking the 70th anniversary of the modern Jewish state, will be “70 and Sababa.” When Israelis say something is sababa, they mean it’s awesome, fantastic or super, parade organizers explained, adding, “Israel, you are sababa!”
An independent event following the parade, “The Concert with a Message,” will take place at Central Park’s Summer Stage from 2:30 to 7:30 pm. This free event, featuring popular musicians and talkers, can be accessed through the park entrance at Fifth Avenue and 72nd Street.
Scheduled performers include Shloime Dachs, Mordechai Shapiro, Abraham Fried, Tal Vaknin, Simply Tzfat, Chaim Kiss, Jerry Markovitz, and Izzy Kiefer.
Among anticipated speakers are U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon, Consul General to New York Dani Dayan, Fox and Friends host Pete Hegseth, ZOA President Morton Klein, and RZA President and former Lawrence Mayor Martin Oliner.
The concert celebrates “our eternal bond with the undivided capital of Israel, Yerushalayim, and the heroic families and communities of Yehuda, Shomron, the Jordan Valley and the Golan Heights,” organizers said.
The parade, a New York tradition since 1965 when it began as an impromtu walk down Riverside Drive, will feature more than 30 floats with musical performers, 15 world-class marching bands, numerous varied entertainers, and 40,000 marchers.
Featured performers include Israeli musician Ninet Tayeb and Israel Chef Eyal Shani, saxophonist Yarden Klayman, the Milk and Honeys, the National Yiddish Theatre/Folksbiene, DJ Omri Anghel, Six-13, and the house band Soulfarm.
Dina and Jonathan Leader will serve as grand marshals. Honorary grand marshals will include singer-entertainer Lipa Schmeltzer, Unorthodox Podcast host Liel Leibovitz, and actor and Birthright alum Jonathan Lipnicki.
The parade will be telecast and live-streamed starting at noon on FOX’s My9 or CelebrateIsraelNY.org.
For more about the parade visit Celebrate IsraelNY.org; for the concert, bit.ly/2xn0XfC. Both events will take place rain or shine.
This article was published by the Jewish Star and may be found here.