Supernova: One year on from the deadliest attack in music
Today marks one year since the deadliest-ever attack at a music festival, when Hamas gunmen killed 364 concertgoers and took dozens of others hostage at Supernova festival in Israel.
The Supernova Sukkot trance music gathering was stormed at 6:29 am on 7 October 2023, as part of coordinated attacks on Israel. Around 4,000 people from 36 countries attended the festival, which was held in the desert near Kibbutz Re’im – less than 5km from the Gaza Strip.
The festival was organised by promoter Tribe of Nova and staged under Brazil’s Universo Paralello brand.
Hundreds of survivors and bereaved relatives gathered yesterday at Tel Aviv’s Hangar 11 event hall for a memorial ceremony, organised by the Tribe of Nova community.
“On this evening we will stand together as one, to support each other, hear the voice of pain and longing, share stories and memories, and find comfort in the power of love and hope,” wrote Tribe Of Nova ahead of the event on Instagram.
The two-hour event featured speeches by bereaved family members, short films and music performances, and concluded with a call to release the hostages still held in Gaza – about 100, a third of whom are feared to be dead.
At 6:29 a.m today, the families of those killed at the Nova music festival, joined by Israeli President Isaac Herzog, gathered at the festival site in Kibbutz Re’im to mark the anniversary. Before the minute’s silence, organisers played the last track attendees danced to before the deadly assault.
Following the attack last year, the festival’s promoter launched a foundation to support the long-term recovery of the 3,882 survivors and bereaved families with gatherings, workshops, memorials and financial support.
Tribe of Nova said it was “shocked and pained” by the tragedy, adding that the attack was “the epitome of pure and unbridled evil”
Memorials, art exhibitions and installations have popped up across the globe since the 7 October massacre.
At this year’s Burning Man festival in the US, attendees paused at 6:29 am to honour the victims of the atrocity and an installation featuring the multi-coloured tent that stood at the centre of the festival was erected.
This installation has since appeared in an exhibit called 06:29am The Moment Music Stood Still, which was launched this year in Tel Aviv, and has since been displayed in New York, Los Angeles and Philadelphia and opens today in Buenos Aires.
The exhibit includes remains salvaged from the festival grounds, including scorched cars, bullet-riddled bathroom stalls and personal belongings, as well as video testimonies from survivors, volunteers and family members.
Last month, the BBC released a documentary about the attack called We Will Dance Again, featuring the testimony of survivors, mobile phone footage, and footage from Hamas fighters.”
It forms part of a group of programmes the BBC is producing around the 7 October anniversary, with the next set to be Life and Death in Gaza, a documentary filmed by four Palestinians documenting the humanitarian crisis following the invasion of the Gaza Strip.
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Israel festival death toll raised by 100
The death toll from the massacre at Israel’s Supernova festival has been raised to more than 360, according to a new report.
It was originally reported that at least 260 people were killed and dozens taken hostage after Hamas stormed the psy-trance music gathering, held in the desert near Kibbutz Re’im, not far from the Gaza Strip, last month.
The Times of Israel, via TV station Channel 12, reports the revised death count equates to a third of the 1,200 people killed in the coordinated 7 October attacks on Israel and makes up half of all civilian casualties.
Supernova was attended by around 4,000 people, but while the attack was the deadliest ever assault on a music event, police believe Hamas was unaware of the festival in the lead-up to the massacre.
Channel 12 says that investigators reached that conclusion after questioning of captured terrorists, and also because they did not find maps on the bodies of dead terrorists directing them to the event, in contrast to the other massacres that day.
“We will dance again and that will be our victory”
The TV report added that police believe the perpetrators only became aware a major event was taking place in the Re’im area and headed towards it after police began dispersing festival-goers because of the wider attacks.
Supernova Sukkot organisers Tribe of Nova paid tribute to the victims at an official memorial ceremony last week.
“We went through something that we had no control over, we will take care of everyone and help everyone,” said Omri Sassi and Nimrod Arnin at the memorial, held at Kibbutz Sdot Yam. “We love the country. We will dance again and that will be our victory.”
Staged under the Universo Paralello brand, the Brazil-hailing festival was being held in Israel for the first time. Acts included Artifex, Aladin, Astral Projection, Flare, Jackalon, Jumpstreet, Kido, Libra, Man With no Name, Noface, Protonica, Rocky Tilbor, Shove, Spectra Sonics, Swarup and Wegha.
Executives from Israel’s live music industry have called the Hamas attack the “biggest-ever disaster at a music festival”, adding that business will be paused for the foreseeable future.
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Supernova: Survivors return to site, victims named
In the wake of the massacre at Supernova festival in Israel, a number of international citizens who attended the event have been confirmed missing or dead, with one promoter telling IQ the conflict is “the hardest moment in Israel’s history”.
At least 260 people have been killed and others abducted in last Saturday’s attack by terrorists.
Even after days of fighting, the Kibbutz Re’im festival site (less than 5km from the Gaza Strip) is not entirely secure and Israeli forces are said to be on edge.
On Thursday evening two shots reportedly cracked over the festival site, and soldiers arrested a man they said was a terrorist suspect who was carrying a knife. Hours earlier, the area had been shut to media as Israeli forces dealt with a “suspected infiltration”.
Security guards are currently manning the site and some civilians have returned to collect possessions from the wreckage.
Meanwhile, BBC yesterday confirmed five international victims of the brutal assault at Supernova festival.
British citizen Jake Marlowe (26), who was working security at Supernova, was confirmed dead by the country’s embassy in London.
Even after days of fighting, the Kibbutz Re’im festival site is not entirely secure
One of Marlowe’s friends told inews that he was a “well-noted musician in the UK metal and hardcore scene” and was “known for playing the drums and the bass guitar. He’s toured all over the world, especially with his band Desolated”.
Citizens that are believed to have been abducted from Supernova are a 26-year-old named Avidan from France, a German-Israeli woman called Shani Louk and a Chinese-Israeli woman named Noa Argamani.
A 22-year-old Irish-Israeli woman named Kim Danti is unaccounted for. RTÉ, the country’s national broadcaster, reports that she was last seen at the music festival.
Executives from Israel’s live music industry have called the Supernova massacre the “biggest-ever disaster at a music festival” and some say business will be paused for the foreseeable future.
“This is the hardest moment in Israel’s history,” Hillel Wachs of local promoter 2b Vibes today told IQ. “Over 900 people were butchered ISIS-style and the body count continues. This will significantly set back the live industry and clearly complicate our efforts to promote shows. I imagine 2024 will be relatively quiet. Our biggest hope now is that everyone returns home safely and this ends as soon as possible. Our thoughts are with the families of victims.”
Israel said that 1,300 people were killed during rocket attacks and deadly raids into Israeli territory by fighters from the Hamas terrorist group. More than 3,000 people have been wounded. Israel said Thursday it had so far confirmed the identities of 97 hostages taken to Gaza.
Officials in Gaza said that more than 1,500 people had been killed and 6,600 wounded by retaliatory strikes by Israel.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday vowed to “crush and destroy” Hamas and said every member of the organisation was a “dead man”.
Meanwhile, entertainment industry leaders have signed an open letter released by the non-profit entertainment industry organisation, Creative Community for Peace (CCFP), condemning the Hamas terrorist group.
Signatories include Irving Azoff, CEO/chairman, Full Stop Management; Bryan Lourd, CEO, CAA; Richard Lovett, co-chairman, Jim Berkus, chairman of the Board of Directors, UTA and Rick Rosen, co-founder, Endeavor.
The CCFP letter calls on the entertainment community to speak out forcefully against Hamas, support Israel, refrain from sharing misinformation about the war, and do whatever is in their power to urge the terrorist organisation to return the hostages to their families.
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Supernova organiser ‘shocked and pained’ by attack
Organisers of Israel’s Supernova festival say they are “shocked and pained” by the Hamas attack that killed at least 260 people.
The psy-trance event debuted in the country from 6-7 October, but was stormed by Palestinian militants on Saturday morning as part of a wider coordinated offensive on Israel.
Tribe of Nova, the company behind the festival, which was held near the Gaza-Israel border, says it has been left “stunned” by the massacre, with hundreds of people still unaccounted for.
“We strengthen and share the grief of the missing and murdered families,” it says in a Facebook post. “We are doing everything we can to assist the security forces, stand with them in constant contact and are located in the area in scans and searches in order to locate the missing.”
“In moments like these, it is important that we are strong and united, full of faith, support each other and be there for anyone who needs it”
Held as part of Brazilian festival franchise Universo Paralello, the festival featured an international line-up including Aladin, Artifex, Astral Projection, Flare, Jackalon, Jumpstreet, Kido, Libra, Man With no Name, Noface, Protonica, Rocky Tilbor, Shove, Spectra Sonics, Swarup and Wegha.
Tribe of Nova has set up an online system whereby people can upload the details of missing festival-goers, which will then passed on to the relevant authorities.
“We [will] pass on to relevant parties every piece of information that comes to us about additional missing persons,” adds the post. “We invite you to bring any additional information about family members and friends who have not yet contacted. We are full of hope and pray that good news will reach us and you soon.
“In moments like these, it is important that we are strong and united, full of faith, support each other and be there for anyone who needs it.”
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