The first gourmet kosher food festival will be held in Petach Tikva, between Kfar Saba and Tel Aviv, in the evening hours on June 17-19. Organizers said the free-entry festival will be "a quality and kosher gastronomical experience" that will include musical entertainment.

The event follows by three weeks the Tel Aviv Food Festival, one of the largest in the world, which attracted half a million visitors. Former National Religious Party Knesset Member Shaul Yahalom, one of the organizers, pointed out that kosher food "is just as tasty, sophisticated and innovative as non-kosher food."

Kosher food sales in the United States have soared in recent years, attracting more people who are keeping kosher as well as those who recognize kosher food as healthier than other products.