Draft:Arad Festival
| Arad Festival פסטיבל ערד | |
|---|---|
_-_Berry_Sakharof_performing_at_a_rock_festival_in_the_Red_Sea.jpg) Berry Sakharof in Arad Festival, 1992 | |
| Genre | Israeli rock, pop music, folk music |
| Dates | August |
| Frequency | Annually |
| Locations | Arad, Israel |
| Years active | 1982–present |
| Website | https://www.facebook.com/festival.arad/?locale=he_IL |
Arad Festival (Hebrew: פסטיבל ערד), officially known in its early years as the Arad Festival of Zemer Ivri is an annual music festival held in the city of Arad, located in the Negev Desert.[1][2] Although designated as a festival, it was not established as a song contest or a single-evening event, but rather as a multi-day cultural gathering featuring numerous parallel performances across several open-air and indoor venues.[3]
Established in 1982, the festival originally served as a national encounter for havurot zemer (Hebrew singing ensembles) performing traditional Israeli folk songs (Shirei Eretz Yisrael).[4][1][5] Over the following decade, the festival slowly changed into a three-day rock festival that integrated mainstream productions with variants of the local Israeli rock scene.[1][5] Following a fatal crowd-crush disaster during a concert in 1995, the festival was suspended and restructured into a smaller, more regulated format in later years.
History
[edit]Early years (1982–1989)
[edit]The Arad Festival was launched in 1982.[1] The goal of the festival was to give a stage to havurot zemer and preserve old Hebrew songs.[1][6]
In 1983, the festival expanded and used multiple locations in the city to host larger crowds.[3] While it started with acoustic music and community singing, organizers slowly added popular pop and rock artists to the lineup.[5]
Shift to rock and the 1995 disaster
[edit]By the late 1980s and early 1990s, the festival became a rock music festival.[1][5] It attracted tens of thousands of young Israelis who camped on lawns and streets around Arad.[5]
On July 18, 1995, a major tragedy happened during the opening night. A massive crowd arrived for the farewell concert of the rock band Mashina.[7] The concert compound was overcrowded, and the outer gates collapsed under the pressure of the crowd. Three teenagers were crushed to death and many others were injured. The rest of the 1995 festival was immediately canceled. The disaster led to police investigations, legal trials against the organizers, and changes to safety regulations for public events in Israel.
Later years (2000s–present)
[edit]The festival did not run for fourteen years after the disaster while authorities changed the safety and licensing laws for large events.[8]
In October 2009, the festival returned.[8] To fix the safety issues, the organizers changed the format. They stopped allowing people to camp on the streets, and moved the concerts into small, closed venues with strict limits on crowd size.[9] The music program went back to traditional Israeli pop and rock, with artists like Shlomo Artzi, Danny Sanderson, and Hadag Nahash.[8][9]
The festival marked its 30th anniversary in August 2012, focusing on Hebrew vocal music.[10] In August 2023, the festival held its 40th anniversary with a five-day music program that included both older musicians such as Daklon and newer pop-rock groups.[11][12]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Regev & Seroussi 2004, p. 64
- ↑ "שנות החופש והרוק'נרול: בחזרה לימיו הגדולים של פסטיבל ערד". www.maariv.co.il (in Hebrew). 2022. Retrieved 2026-10-02.
- 1 2 Regev & Seroussi 2004, p. 133
- ↑ "פסטיבל ערד לזמר עברי ייהפר לאירוע שנתי". Davar. 30 September 1983. p. 2.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Regev & Seroussi 2004, p. 162
- ↑ Regev & Seroussi 2004, p. 287
- ↑ החדשות (2010-01-04). הווידאופדיה: אסון ערד. Retrieved 2026-10-02 – via YouTube.
- 1 2 3 Kohavi, Noya (5 October 2009). "Arad Holds Rock Festival Again, 14 Years After Fatal Concert". Haaretz.
- 1 2 Davis, Barry (12 August 2011). "Arad comes alive with music". The Jerusalem Post.
- ↑ Davis, Barry (16 August 2012). "The Arad Festival hits 30". The Jerusalem Post.
- ↑ Davis, Barry (14 August 2023). "Israel's Arad Festival turns 40 with 5-day music party". The Jerusalem Post.
- ↑ ריגר, יונתן (2023-08-18). ""ילדים בכו על אלונקות": זה היה הוודסטוק הישראלי וזה נגמר". N12 (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2026-10-02.
Bibliography
[edit]- Regev, Motti; Seroussi, Edwin (2004). Popular Music and National Culture in Israel. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0520236547.