EGG ROLLS & EGG CREAMS FESTIVAL

Museum at Eldridge Street presents the 10-year anniversary of its one-of-a-kind block party celebrating Chinese and Jewish communities

Sunday, June 6, 2010 from 12-4 PM at the Museum at Eldridge Street

Lower East Side, New York... A unique slice of Lower Manhattan– where Chinatown meets the Jewish Lower East Side – comes to life at the Museum at Eldridge Street’s 10th annual Egg Rolls & Egg Creams Festival on Sunday, June 6, 2010 from 12 to 4 PM. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Museum’s signature Egg Rolls & Egg Creams Festival and it is sure to be the biggest, best, and most egg-cellent ever! Chinese and Jewish musicians, dancers, folk artists, language teachers and food presenters will share their traditions and art forms. The 10th annual Egg Rolls & Egg Creams Festival takes place on Eldridge Street between Canal and Division Streets with the Eldridge Street Synagogue—the magnificent 1887 National Historic Landmark—as its centerpiece.

Egg Rolls & Egg Creams Festival celebrates the two cultural groups that have lived and worked on the block, from the East European Jewish immigrants of a century ago to the Chinese community of today. To celebrate our 10th annual block party, you’ll find Hebrew and Chinese scribes sitting side-by-side in the synagogue sanctuary, while outside on the street a Chinese Opera singer will perform, followed by a klezmer ensemble. A free event, the Egg Rolls & Egg Creams Festival draws thousands of visitors from the area and from all around the city.

Performances and demonstrations will showcase the ways in which these ethnic cultural forms are unique or have intertwined – stylistically, geographically and historically. Highlights of the festival include performances by a Chinese acrobats, Chinese folk-music ensemble and klezmer group; hands-on demonstrations by a Torah scribe, yarmulke and tefillin makers, and a paper-lantern maker; Yiddish and Chinese children’s games, and, of course, delicious, kosher egg creams and egg rolls. Visitors to the festival can participate in a host of interactive activities, including mahjongg and Yiddish and Chinese lessons. Interpretive materials will be available in both English and Chinese.

Both the Chinese and Eastern European Jewish communities place enormous value on traditions that have endured uninterrupted from ancient times to the present. The Egg Rolls & Egg Creams Festival will highlight the importance of preserving cultural traditions and artifacts, including the magnificent Eldridge Street Synagogue – a community anchor since 1887 and a National Historic Landmark since 1996.

Egg Rolls & Egg Creams Festival is presented by the Museum at Eldridge Street. The Museum, founded as the Eldridge Street Project in 1986, presents the culture, history and traditions of the great wave of Jewish immigrants to the Lower East Side, drawing parallels with the diverse cultural communities that have settled in America. Concerts, literary events, art installations, workshops for school children, and other cultural and educational programs at the site serve audiences of diverse ages and backgrounds.

Egg Rolls & Egg Creams Festival is free.

WHAT: The Museum at Eldridge Street’s 10th annual Egg Rolls & Egg Creams Festival celebrates the cultural contributions and traditions of the Chinese and Eastern European Jewish communities in America. Music, crafts, language lessons, folk art demonstrations, and, of course, kosher egg rolls and egg creams give a taste of the traditions and art forms of these two communities. For more information, call the Museum at Eldridge Street at 212.219.0888 or visit www.eldridgestreet.org.

WHEN: Sunday, June 6, 2010 from 12-4 PM.

WHERE: Egg Rolls & Egg Creams Festival takes place at the Eldridge Street Synagogue at
12 Eldridge Street, between Canal and Division Streets.
By subway: F to East Broadway; B or D to Grand Street.