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Gragger-Poster-Final3-scaled - DJ KHAZN update

Co-Sponsored By:

Gragger

NOTE: In-Person Gragger tickets are SOLD OUT! 

  • No tickets sold at the door
  • Waitlist for in-person tickets is now closed.
  • VIRTUAL TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE.

At the invitation of the great King Ahasuerus and Queen Vashti, maidens, fools, and noblefolk from across the realm are heartily encouraged to attend this Purim’s Shushan Renaissance Faire. Merriment and sumptuous delights are anticipated by all – unless? Perchance the whispers of revolutionary dissent are true–? Verily, a tale of power, intrigue, and great suspense will surely unfold. ‘Tis an evening not to be missed!

Celebrate Purim at this year’s Ren Faire-themed Gragger! Come in your favorite costume – themed or otherwise – and enjoy the radical story that this year’s community has lovingly devised. Ren Faire workers of the world unite! Huzzah!

Saturday, March 16th, 7:00PM - 11:00PM

Spontaneous Celebrations
45 Danforth Street Jamaica Plain, MA
18+  //  Event is wheelchair accessible. 

 

NOTE: In-Person Gragger tickets are SOLD OUT! 

  • No tickets sold at the door
  • Waitlist for in-person tickets is now closed.
  • VIRTUAL TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE.
Tickets:
Tickets: $20-$54, sliding scale
All BWC events are sliding scale; nobody will be turned away for lack of funds.
Become a BWC Member! Donate $41+ to join for the next 15 months! When you become a BWC member,you  grow our collective voice & power.

NOTE: In-Person Gragger tickets are SOLD OUT! 

  • No tickets sold at the door
  • Waitlist for in-person tickets is now closed.
  • VIRTUAL TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE.

Our team is fortunate to have the support of so many people who love Gragger as much as we do. With this in mind, we want to share ahead of time that we will have a very strict venue capacity limit this year. There will be a certain amount of space available in the shpil performance space upstairs; we welcome everyone else to join us in the downstairs overflow space where we will be showing a livestream of the shpil. If you’re planning on joining us this year, we recommend:

  • Buying your ticket as soon as possible
  • Arriving with plenty of time to spare—doors will open at 6:15—particularly if you would like to join the shpil audience upstairs

We also request that all attendees show respect for our neighbors when departing the venue by remaining as quiet as possible until you reach your MBTA stop, car, or other form of transportation at the end of the night.

  • Good Trouble Brass Band
  • Ain’t Mitzvahavin’
  • Chaia -  Chaia is a New York-based electronic music artist, DJ, and curator. Using samples from archival Yiddish recordings, Chaia creates electronic dance grooves that inspire new visions of Jewish diasporic identity. Chaia's music has been heard at major Jewish music festivals across the globe including Shtetl Berlin, KlezKanada, and Yiddish New York. She's also headlined major electronic music festivals such as NICE, a Fest and Nowadays Nonstop. Her work has been supported by Boston's Festival For New Jewish Music, Combined Jewish Philanthropies, KlezCummington, and the Jewish Museum of Maryland. In 2023, she was awarded the Studio 170 Award from the Goethe Institut for her work with visual artist Dan Tombs. Her debut album, Yibaneh, created in collaboration with mixing pioneer Russell Elevado will be released in Spring of 2024. Insta @chaialeh
  • DJ Khazn - Eli Berman (aka DJ Khazn) is a vocalist, composer-producer, and instrument builder from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her DJ sets are a chaotic cross-pollination of techno, house, hyperpop, reggaeton, afro beats, balkan beats, industrial, and various Jewish songs in Yiddish and Hebrew. When she’s not behind the booth, Eli creates electroacoustic music with experimental vocal techniques across khazones (Ashkenazi Jewish cantorial music), Yiddish and Appalachian folk songs, choral music, and western classical repertoire for countertenor and baritone. For four years she has developed acoustic feedback instruments that extend the human voice through microphones and transducer speakers made of pipes and metals. In the past two years, she has begun to create house and techno beats from processed samples of her voice, contributing to the burgeoning Jewish rave scene, Kleztronica. Eli has recently premiered work at the Snug Harbor Dance Festival, Künstler*innenhaus Mousonturm (Frankfurt, Germany), Pop-Kultur Festival at Kulturbrauerei (Berlin, Germany), Watermill Center, Princeton University, Dartmouth College, Banff Centre (Alberta, Canada), New Music On the Point, Yiddish Summer Weimar, New Explorative Oratorio Voice Festival, Atlantic Music Festival, and Gender Unbound. She has presented her creative research at the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression, Pan-American Vocology Association Symposium, and Transgender Singing Voice Conference. Insta: @_eliberman_
  • Dressing up in costume is part of what makes Gragger so much fun, and we’re excited to see what amazing costumes you’ll wear to Gragger! However, some use Purim as an opportunity to demean marginalized cultures and communities. Every attendee should know that we will not be admitting anyone wearing a racist costume. If you are unsure if your costume might be harmful to a marginalized community, we encourage you to err on the side of caution and compassion and choose something else. There are many great options: figures from the Purim story, animals, or pun costumes are wonderful choices that do not rely on racist stereotypes.
  • Additionally, we look forward to Gragger as an opportunity to cultivate a gender expansive space where everyone can play with gender expression in a way that is affirming. In the spirit of gender performance, exploration, and subversion, we welcome costumes which allow you to express your gender creatively. However, be aware that any attendees wearing costumes that use transgender identities, particularly transfeminine ones, as a punchline will not be admitted.

Gragger will be held this year at Spontaneous Celebrations, located at 45 Danforth Street in Jamaica Plain. We highly recommend that attendees travel to Spontaneous Celebrations by public transit; the venue is a couple minute walk from the Stony Brook station on the Orange Line. There is parking on surrounding streets; we ask that all attendees treat neighbors with respect by ensuring they obey all parking signage and take care not to block driveways, fire hydrants, or similar infrastructure. Parking at Spontaneous Celebrations is restricted to event staff and those needing accessible parking; please make sure to indicate on your form if you will need an accessible parking space so we can ensure there’s a spot for you.

In line with BWC’s values and our commitment to protecting our community, we are requesting that attendees take part in our efforts to care for the health of everyone inside and around our BWC community by:

  • Masking and taking precautions (such as avoiding attending unmasked events) to limit exposure in the week leading up to Gragger
  • Testing for COVID-19 the day of Gragger; free tests can be picked up in Boston at the following sites
  • Self-evaluating for COVID-19 before coming; look for symptoms like fever over 100.4 °F, cough, shortness of breath, new loss of taste or smell, or other related symptoms listed here by the CDC; if you’re not feeling well, please join us at the livestream, rather than in person
  • Masking with an N95/KN95/KF94 when not eating or drinking; we will have masks at the door

In addition, unmasked actors and performers will also be required to test before Gragger.

Gragger’s proximity to other gatherings like those for St. Patrick’s Day, Purim, and Easter mean we have an opportunity to use our precautions to limit the spread within our BWC community and to our broader Boston community. COVID-19 is still impacting our communities, and it’s up to us to protect one another.

To learn more about COVID-19 and its impact, we recommend checking out the resources offered by the People’s CDC. We thank you for helping us to live out the principles established by our founders in 1905: “We fight sickness, premature death, and capitalism.”

  • Spontaneous Celebrations is wheelchair accessible; the accessible entrance is located on the left side of the building (when facing the front of the building from the street). Accessibility escorts will be available to assist attendees with finding their way into the building. An elevator is available to use to move between the upstairs and downstairs spaces.
  • Gender neutral restrooms will be available.
  • ASL interpreters will be available for the purimshpil (Purim play). Simply indicate on the registration form or let folks at the registration table know and we will show you where to sit.
  • A low sensory room will be clearly marked and available on the first floor.
  • Chairs will be available in both the upstairs and downstairs.
  • Please note any accessibility accommodations or questions regarding accessibility on your registration form or by contacting BWC Organizer, Zohar Berman.

Hamantaschen this year is once again sponsored by IfNotNow Boston, and will include gluten-free and vegan options. Other light refreshments will be available.
Beer and wine will be available at our cash bar, thanks to our sponsors, Boston Beer Company and Trader Joe's. Non-alcoholic beverages and water will also be available at the bar.

Join us in supporting our partner, 1for3, as they raise money to assist refugees in the West Bank. 1for3 has worked for many years in the areas of water, food, health, and education, and conditions have only gotten worse since October 7 with increasing Israeli military violence, the collapse of a healthcare system, and strangulation of an economy. We have the opportunity to support Palestinian refugees’ work against trauma, violence, and scarcity through a global partnership. Learn more about the campaign, donate to our team, and join as a fundraiser here.

  • In collaboration with Kavod’s Safety Team, we are planning for community safety during this event in alignment with BWC’s commitment to exploring non-carceral approaches to holding programming safely. Our safety team volunteers will be available throughout the party to help anyone who feels unsafe or unwell and needs assistance. We will have medics available for basic first aid.
  • Sexual harassment of any kind is strictly prohibited and any incidences will result in those engaging in these behaviors being removed from the party. Attendees should always check for consent before touching other party-goers and should periodically check in with those that do give consent to ensure they are still ok with contact.
  • We take safety of attendees seriously, and work to provide safety options even for incidents which are very rare. Given local reports about increases in drink spiking, and out of an abundance of caution, we will have anti-tamper stickers and straws available for anyone who would like one for their drink. We encourage attendees to keep their drink in sight and to look out for one another. If attendees see any suspicious behavior or a person who may need medical assistance, they should immediately inform a safety team member or a BWC staff member.
  • 6:15 – Doors open
  • 7:00 – Purimshpil (Purim play) begins
  • 8:00 – Good Trouble Brass Band
  • 9:20 – Costume Contest
  • 9:40 – Chaia
  • 10:20 – DJ Khazn

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