Thousands defy fear as ChanukahLIVE! lights up Trafalgar Square
Public Chanukah celebration draws thousands amid global antisemitic attacks, with Europe’s tallest menorah lit in London
Thousands of people gathered in Trafalgar Square on Tuesday evening as ChanukahLIVE! returned to central London, transforming the capital’s most famous public space into a vibrant celebration of Jewish life, faith and resilience.
Organised by the Jewish Leadership Council (JLC) in partnership with community organisations across London, the event marked the third night of Chanukah with live music, communal singing and the lighting of a giant menorah in the heart of the capital.
A 7-metre-wide, 8-metre-high menorah – described by organisers as the tallest in Europe – was illuminated using high-intensity searchlights projected into the night sky above Trafalgar Square. Volunteers also distributed around 3,000 doughnuts to attendees throughout the evening.
The programme was hosted by comedian Rachel Creeger and opened by JLC chair Keith Black. Performers included DJ Dan Kraines, vocalist Avi Kraus, chazan Pini Brown, Erran Barron Cohen and rapper JBC.
One of the evening’s centrepieces was a mass children’s choir formed by pupils from four Jewish primary schools – Clore Tikva, Mathilda Marks-Kennedy, Etz Chaim and Wolfson Hillel – who joined together to perform Maoz Tzur and We Know a Man, conducted by Stephen Melzack.
Speaking to the crowd, Black referenced recent antisemitic violence affecting Jewish communities worldwide, including the deadly attack at Heaton Park Synagogue on Yom Kippur and the terrorist attack at Bondi Beach in Australia.
A prayer was led on stage by a member of the family of Rabbi Eli Schlanger, the British rabbi killed in the Bondi Beach terror attack days earlier. London’s deputy mayor Mete Coban was among those attending.
“At a time when our community is facing real challenges, as we are still reeling from the murderous attack against Heaton Park Synagogue on Yom Kippur, and as we mourn the victims of the horrific antisemitic terrorist attack on Bondi Beach in Australia, events like ChanukahLIVE! remind us that we will always choose joy over fear,” Black said.
“For thousands of years, the story of Chanukah, the Maccabees’ miraculous victory over the Seleucid Empire and the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem, has taught us that light will always overcome darkness. That message has never been more important.”
The annual Trafalgar Square celebration has become a flagship public expression of Jewish identity in the UK, drawing families, community leaders and passers-by alike to mark the festival openly and proudly in one of London’s most visible civic spaces.