After antisemetic firebombing, Boulder Jewish Festival focuses on healing and hostage awareness
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Organizers of the festival, which is in its 30th year, said they have reimagined the cultural celebration to focus on community healing after a man who yelled 'Free Palestine' threw Molotov cocktails at Run for Their Lives demonstrators, according to law enforcement officials.
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Authorities have said 15 people and a dog were victims of the attack. Not all were physically injured, and some are considered victims for the legal case because they were in the area and could potentially have been hurt.
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Run for Their Lives, a global grassroots initiative with 230 chapters, started in October 2023 after Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip stormed into Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 others hostage.
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Sunday's festival at the downtown Pearl Street pedestrian mall will center the group's cause — raising awareness of the 55 people believed to still be in captivity in Gaza. The Boulder chapter walks at the mall every weekend for 18 minutes, the numerical value of the Hebrew word 'chai,' which means 'life.'
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'It is going to look very different this year. Run for Their Lives is going to be featured front and center,' said Miri Kornfeld, a Run for Their Lives organizer in Denver. 'The community is looking for a way to come together after an act of violence. People just want to be together, and they want to celebrate who they are.'
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For those who cannot attend in person, a Livestream will be available for the Boulder Jewish Festival on Sunday, June 8,...
Posted by Boulder Jewish Festival on Saturday, June 7, 2025
A group representing families of the Israeli hostages plans to send at least one family to join the Boulder chapter Sunday as it resumes its weekly walks during the festival, Kornfeld said. Art, food and music are also planned.
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In response to the attack, the Boulder Police Department and the FBI are coordinating to provide increased security at the festival, local synagogues and the Boulder Jewish Community Center. Festival attendees can expect drones, SWAT elements and plainclothes officers in the crowd to increase safety and make people feel at ease, police Chief Stephen Redfearn said.
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'Any would-be attacker, anybody that might come there to cause harm, I want them to see that we have a lot of people there, and hopefully that dissuades anyone from doing anything nefarious,' Redfearn said Thursday.
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