Long-time Limmud goer Norm Guthartz explores the wide world of Jewish learning and performance at the annual festival

What started as a conference for Britain's Jewish educators in 1980 (attendance 80) has grown into a festival that attracts thousands of participants from across the UK, Europe, the world, and – most notably – the UK's fractious Jewish community. And it's still run by fiercely enthusiastic volunteers. Some things never change, even as they grow. OK, one thing is different: admittance is no longer limited to educators, but Limmud Festival has maintained openness and mutual respect as cornerstones of the movement, which has inspired Jewish communities around the world to start their own versions of the event.

I'll be attending my 22nd successive festival this month (22-26 Dec) at the Hilton Metropole Hotel near Birmingham's NEC. During our first months in London in 1998, I attended the one-day event in Harrow, along with my wife and two young daughters, and caught the bug

At our third Limmud Festival, my wife Lindsey decided that she wanted to teach a session: it was about Rivka, who is introduced in the Torah portion Hayei Sarah, in which she leaves her home and family to marry Yitzhak in faraway Canaan. It was a leap into the unknown, much as my wife's foray into teaching was.

One person showed up for the class – a rabbi no less – and Lindsey felt disappointed. Even worse, she assumed that her sole student would be as well. She apologised and told him that she would not be offended if he wanted to attend a different session. The rabbi said he would stay and suggested learning the material in chavruta (as a study pair). That's what they did and it restored Lindsey's confidence and hooked her on teaching. Now Lindsey holds a PhD in Jewish studies and has been a firm fixture at Limmud ever since.

Me? I don't teach, I attend: text-based study, Israel, politics, history, music workshops, films, concerts and comedy. I'm also open to session suggestions, for which mealtimes shared with friends and strangers are a great source. "You haven't heard [insert guest speaker here] yet? Why did you bother showing up at all?" Some suggestions put your pride on the line.

Aside from study and the general expansion of horizons, the conference of learning – now a fully fledged festival without the mud – is known for the entertainment on offer from around the Jewish world. During the day, performers delight young attendees and in the evening, stages across the Hilton's ground floor burst with music and drama by established and emerging artists.

This year's big draw is Idan Raichel, the Israeli star who brings together instrumental and vocal artists from Middle Eastern, African and Western traditions to create exciting combinations. He has been recording and surprising listeners since 2002. This year, Raichel released an album, And if You Will Come to Me, which he'll be performing solo.

A very different genre is featured in concerts by Ben Gundersheimer and Katherine Jamieson, performing as Mister and Missus G (the Mister winner of a Latin Grammy Award and a children's author to boot). The couple will perform in a sing-along Chanukah concert, with songs in four languages. Also from across the pond, Canadian folk singer Ben Caplan is bringing the klezmer-infused songs he wrote for the theatrical experience, Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story, which has toured across the UK, won praise at the Edinburgh Fringe and got a five-star review from JR.

Dozens of British songsters, writers, actors and directors will be performing as well, bringing fresh perspectives to notions of Jewish learning, identity and community. Rather not be just an audience member? Then the programme includes sessions for practising the latest Israeli dance steps, honing your comedy skills, playing your instruments in an ensemble, or adding your voice to a choir that will present settings of Jewish texts written by Christians – with no mention of you-know-who.

This year's roster likewise lists plenty of lectures on a range of topics in the plastic and performing arts. Here's a tiny handful, boiled down from a few hundred: medieval manuscripts, TV series, the cultures of Sephardi, Mizrahi and Ethiopian traditions, cantorial music, and archaeology. Limmud Festival may have started life as a modest conference for educators, but I've no doubt it'll be around as the big, bustling event it is today for many years to come.

By Norm Guthartz

Limmud Festival runs Friday 20 – Thursday 26 December. £55-£109 (day only); £491-£967, £272 children (Sun-Thu); £192-£308, £177 children (Fri-Sun); £368-£638 (Sun-Tue or Tue-Thu only). Hilton Birmingham Metropole, B40 1PP. www.limmud.org