Festival Sefardí has a history of music, poetry and culture

Festival Sefardí will take place May 21–24 in New Mexico, marking its 17th year as the only event of its kind dedicated to Sephardic Jewish heritage in the region. Organized by Casa Sefarad, the festival centers on the history of Conversos and crypto-Jews who fled the Spanish Inquisition centuries ago and settled in the Southwest, blending their traditions with local culture. The event features four days of music, workshops, and academic discussions under the theme *A Tapestry of New Mexico Identity*. Highlights include a performance by The Sephardic Borderlands Ensemble, which combines traditional Sephardic hymns with New Mexican rhythms during a Shavuot ceremony and the festival’s closing concert. Attendees can also participate in lectures on race, caste, and diaspora, led by scholars like Enrique Lamadrid and Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb. Workshops such as *Multitudes Within: An Embodied Inquiry Into the Paradox of Identity* will explore personal and cultural identity through experiential exercises. An art exhibition, *Fragments of Ritual and Memory*, curated by Janelle Worthington Cardenas, will showcase works tied to Nuevo Mexicano ancestry and resilience. Interactive performances featuring Indigenous poets translated into Spanish will also be part of the lineup. Organizer Hershel Weiss emphasizes the festival’s role in preserving Sephardic history and fostering cross-cultural understanding. The event aims to combat erasure by celebrating the complex, layered identities of New Mexico’s multicultural communities. This year’s programming reflects a commitment to healing, storytelling, and the intersection of Jewish, Indigenous, and Hispanic traditions in the region.