Limmud has begun taking bookings for its first in-person national festival in three years.

Returning to the Birmingham venue which has been its home since 2015, the festival will run from December 23-28 and feature hundreds of educators and entertainers from across the Jewish world.

A team of dedicated volunteers, led by festival chair Jonathan Robinson, has been at work throughout the year to deliver the return of the community’s flagship gathering of learning and culture. “The core message of this year’s event is togetherness – something which has been sorely missed over the last few years,” Mr Robinson said. “At Limmud Festival 2022 we will learn together, laugh together, schmooze together and discover together.”

Musicians, dancers, academics, politicians, film-makers and artists will lead sessions from early morning to beyond midnight.

Speakers will include Bess Welden, award-winning author of the play, Madelines, and Ishay Rosen-Zvi, professor of rabbinic literature at Tel Aviv University.

Shalom Carmy of Yeshiva University will teach Jewish philosophy; Naomi Seidman, professor of arts at Toronto University, will share the stories of the revolutionary Bais Yakov schools movement.

Limmud has been fundraising throughout the year to peg costs for attendees and is offering a comprehensive bursary package.

Adult prices start at £225 - a special rate for those who participate in Limmud’s Festival Maker volunteer programme. Children’s places go from £190.

“Limmud will be here to strengthen our Jewish identity and to provide comfort and reassurance,” explained executive co-chair Abi Jacobi. “And while Limmud itself is a charity, we don’t want the cost of festival to stop anyone attending so we are offering more bursaries than in previous years.”

For booking and affordable places information, go to limmud.org/festival.