What a wonderful raucous and radical celebration of Purim. 375 people gathered at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Downtown Boston to show their love and dedication to building beautiful queer Jewish leftist community here in Boston.

The costumes were varied and creative, from the very simple to quite elaborate. With so many entries into the costume contest, it was a tough call to select a winner. The crowd voted in several rounds narrowing down the field. In the end, Bernie Sanders, sitting in a char with his iconic mittens carried the day. Other highlights were a golem, a pack of cheetahs, a mermaid, a woman dressed as herself in the 1990s, and a group seltzer costume. The re-telling of the Purim story by Ain’t Mitzvahavin’ in the shpil was delightfully fun and featured some pretty fantastic songs! After the shpil. DJs Chaia and Diva Nigun got the crowd moving with their incredible music selection.

We would like to thank the incredible folks at Kavod, IfNotNow, and Keshet for co-sponsoring Gragger this year. In addition, we are so appreciative to the wonderful staff at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul and the amazing work they do for the community. Please make sure to check out our amazing performers of the evening: Ain’t Mitzvahavin’, Chaia, and Diva Nigun! We are also grateful to our beverage sponsors, Third Cliff Bakery and Samuel Adams Brewery. The hamentaschen made by IfNotNow volunteers were delicious as well!

Highlights from the evening are below — check out the full gallery of photos from Gragger here, and the photobooth gallery here!

In a time of increased anti-trans and anti-drag activity from the right, we came together to celebrate what makes the Purim story so resonant: when we work collectively, we can keep one another safe and thrive as a community. We look forward to building this beautiful future together.