This winter’s Limmud Festival will be a hybrid event, combining digital sessions with on-site activities. 

And for the first time, it is scheduled to take place in more than one location, with day programmes being lined up for Manchester and London. 

Last year’s festival was moved completely online because of the pandemic, attracting an estimated 5,000 viewers from across the Jewish world. 

Limmud 2021 is being planned as a four-day event from December 27, combining two days of online learning with in-person events. 

Festival chair Ben Combe said this week: “We have all been longing for a return to the spaces where we can gather, connect, and learn from each other. I am delighted to be a part of the volunteer team creating such a critical moment in 2021. We are working hard to make sure that we can bring the community together this year.” 

Participants could choose “whether the next step on their Jewish journey takes place in the physical or virtual realm” and would have “the chance to connect with their peers around the country and the world”. 

Jon Freedman, the cross-communal organisation’s deputy director, said that while recognising “the uncertainty that Covid-19 brings, we feel confident that this innovative format will allow participants to experience the best that Limmud has to offer in a safe and accessible way”.