In conversation: Alastair Falk

“It's a culmination of threads, if you’ll pardon the pun, through my life, which sitting around in Covid allowed me to pull together”

Tsitsit: The Jewish Fringe Festival, aptly named after the Jewish ritual fringes, launches this October throughout the UK and online. It promises a packed month of music, theatre, comedy and family entertainment celebrating “the diversity of Jewishness” and is the brainchild of Alastair Falk, a former head teacher and co-founder of Limmud. Judi Herman caught up with him to find out about this new festival that’s really got her excited; and Alastair tells her how he himself got the festival bug starting out with his own comedy show on the Edinburgh Fringe.

Tsitsit: The Jewish Fringe Festival runs Sunday 3 – Sunday 31 October. Times and prices vary. See it online and at various UK venues. tsitsitfringe.org

In conversation: Hadar Galron

Shalom Edinburgh! Hadar Galron speaks to us about the International Shalom Festival

Writer/performer Hadar Galron is the inspirational artistic director of the three-day-long International Shalom Festival taking place at Edinburgh Festival Fringe this month. Its mission is to "build cultural bridges and celebrate coexistence and peace" by bringing artists from both the Israeli and Palestinian communities to share a dialogue with visitors to the festival. Here she tells Judi Herman how she plans to combat the protests of anti-Israel protestors like BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) by shedding some real light in Edinburgh.

The International Shalom Festival runs Tuesday 8 – Thursday 10 August. Times vary. Donations on the door. Drummond Community High School, Edinburgh, EH7 4BS. www.shalomfestival.org