Second annual Sukkot Music Festival draws hundreds of Messianic Jews and Christians for celebration at Baptist Village

The second annual Fall Music and Arts Festival, held during the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), took place at the Baptist Village outside Petah Tikvah on Sunday evening.

The festival, which is organized by Yuval Arts and The Messianic Jewish Alliance of Israel (MJAI), drew hundreds of attendees from all over Israel this year. A group of volunteers from the United States also helped organize children’s activities at the festival.

Yuval Arts, which is dedicated to training young believers in the worship arts, sees the festival as a way to publicize their courses and raise awareness of opportunities available for believing youth to participate in the art of worship.

The festival was hosted by the Baptist Village for the second year, a center for conferences, camps, and sports for believers in Jesus as the Messiah - Messianic Jews, Christian Arabs and other Evangelical Christians living in the land. It offers an opportunity for believers from different congregations across Israel to gather together and celebrate the Fall festival of Sukkot with other believers, both Jewish and Gentile.

Last year's Sukkot festival started the annual tradition after the MJAI reached out to Yuval Arts and asked about sponsoring a joint event. Both organizations had a common desire to see community worship be a significant part of the Sukkot holiday.

Liel Davis of Yuval Arts said, "We make improvements each year. We see how much of a blessing it is for the musicians, the artists, and for the body of Messiah."

Davis said the event has been a blessing for many believers in Israel.

"We have received many, many messages from people. They are thirsty for the fellowship, the corporate worship, and the unity."

The festival began with a selection of messianic worship songs performed by Yuval Arts students, followed by a children’s play involving popular characters reuniting from a previous play, where their attempts to build a sukkah (booth for the Feast of Tabernacles), provided comedy as well as a lesson about the importance of following God’s instructions.

The rest of the performances included worship groups from various congregations around Israel that were invited by the MJAI.

As with last year’s festival, many booths were set up by local believing artists and craft makers who offered handmade items, delicious homemade delicacies, as well as books, music and children’s books.

The highlight of the evening was the closing worship session by the beloved Israeli worship group, SOLU, led by Shilo Ben Hod.

The fall Sukkot Festival is one of two celebrations held annually at the Baptist Village for the broader body of Messiah in Israel.

The Baptist Village also hosts a Shavuot celebration sponsored by MJAI in late spring.