City Winery To Host 30th Annual DOWNTOWN SEDER, Sunday, April 2

Five days before the Passover holiday begins, Michael Dorf, the founder and CEO of City Winery will be bringing together 20 musicians, comedians, political thinkers, activists and more into an unprecedented mix and interpretation of the ancient holiday which transcends Judaism and takes the Passover story of tyrants harboring lethal hatred for outsiders and immigrants, the liberation struggles, the history of oppression, bigotry and antisemitism and makes it relevant for our times.

Dorf started this event at the Knitting Factory in 1993. It then moved to the Museum of Jewish Heritage and now is held at City Winery where it has been an annual tradition since 2008. It is as, if not more, relevant today to tell the story this year at the Seder for the entire community as the current threat to everyone's freedoms in 2023 is as real as it was then.

"It says in the beginning of the Haggadah that one should recount and retell the story of the exodus from Egypt in the language that you understand. The ancient Israelites didn't know Hebrew, so they told the story in Arminian. Americans read it in English," said Dorf. "Our interpretation is to tell the story in the language of the arts, in ways we can relate and truly empathize with what it would be like to be in bondage, to be emancipated and the universal civil rights we need to continually remind ourselves."

This year's Seder lineup includes:

· Mayor Eric Adams

· Dr. Ruth

· Bettye Lavette

· Jason Flom and Lorenzo Johnson - who were wrongfully convicted and freed by the Innocence Project

· Congressman Max Rose

· Gary Lucas

· David Broza

· Comedian, Modi

· Terrance Floyd - George Floyd's brother who will be asking the "4 Questions"

· Resistance Revival Chorus

· Vince Warren - Executive Director of the Center for Constitutional Rights

· Basya and Saadya Schecter

· Paul Shapiro's Ribs & Brisket

· Betty

· Mark Vincent

The Downtown Seder will take place at City Winery's flagship location at Pier 57 in New York City (25 11th Avenue New York, NY 10011) and tickets can be purchased here. The Seder will also be live streamed at www.citywinery.com/seder.

City Winery, founded in 2008 by Michael Dorf, delivers a unique culinary and cultural experience to urban wine enthusiasts passionate about music. Each City Winery offers intimate concerts, upscale dining, private event spaces, and a fully functioning winery. To date, City Winery has locations in New York, Chicago, Nashville, Atlanta, Boston, and Philadelphia and will be opening up in St. Louis, Pittsburgh and Columbus in 2023. In 2020, City Winery opened Hudson Valley, a hydro-powered winery, vineyard, restaurant, outdoor concert venue and private events space at the historic Montgomery Mills. Other concepts run by the company include City Vineyard at Pier 26, City Winery at Rockefeller Center, City Winery Chicago at the Riverwalk, and City Winery Greenway in Boston. Michael Dorf explains his success and outlines his career in his book, Indulge Your Senses: Scaling Intimacy in a Digital World. See www.citywinery.com for details.