Yiddish Culture Jam

The deadline for submitting a proposal for the 2027 Participant-Led Workshop Series is October 15, 2026.

Share your skills, knowledge, and passion! KlezKanada’s Yiddish Culture Jam will feature a series of participant-led programming. We invite participants to submit ideas for talks, workshops, or beyond. These can be in any discipline and on any topic related to the focus areas of the winter session: contemporary Yiddish cultural creation and cross-cultural collaboration.

You don’t have to be an expert to lead a workshop. A paper-cutting workshop that draws upon traditional techniques? Absolutely. A workshop on how to find and work with archival materials? A graphic storytelling workshop using Yiddish stories as inspiration? A talk on your research into Yiddish translations of Quebecois poems? Yes, to all. Let’s use our knowledge to co-create the Yiddish cultural ecosystem we want to live in.

If your workshop is selected for the series, you will receive a discount code that will give you full access to the 2027 YCJ program. Please note that you will need to register for programs in advance and that your discount code does not guarantee space in the program until you have registered. No honorarium or travel stipend is provided beyond the discounted program.

Some important details:
The dates of the 2027 Yiddish Culture Jam are February 25-28. All sessions will be held in person in Montreal.
Submissions will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the submission form closes on OctoberNovember 15, 2026. We encourage you to submit early.
You may submit more than one proposal.
Not all submissions will be accepted. Last year we received more submissions than we were able to program. We will be in touch by November 1December 15, 2026 to let you know whether or not we will be including your session in the 2026 Yiddish Culture Jam program.
All participant-led sessions will be scheduled for either 90 or 120 minutes.

As you develop your workshop, consider the following questions:

What are your objectives for the session? Can you answer the question “After this workshop, participants will be able to…” ?
Is this a presentation, demonstration, guided-practice, whole-group activity, or other format?
What is the optimal size for this session? We can accommodate sessions geared to 5-25 participants.
What audience are you imagining in terms of age, level of experience (with Yiddish, their instrument, etc), mobility? Are you able to modify this session if participants of other ages, experience, mobility want to participate?
How might you present your talk or workshop in a way that promotes curiosity, critical thinking, and respectful dialogue?