Israel hosts first international rock festival

The Meteor Festival did not disappoint and provided a great experience and was even on par with similar festivals outside Israel.

By DORON ILAN, KEREN ILAN

SEPTEMBER 9, 2018 06:16

Updated: SEPTEMBER 12, 2018 02:59

Pusha T, meteor music festival September 9, 2018 (photo credit: Courtesy) — Pusha T, meteor music festival September 9, 2018

(photo credit: Courtesy)

Israel hosted its first international rock music festival called Meteor Festival near Kibbutz Lehavot Habashan from Thursday until Saturday.

The organizers definitely accomplished something very impressive: a well-organized festival with a highly-respected local and international lineup.

Despite several cancellations, the planned lineup and the professionalism of the festival’s website gave impressions of high levels of organization.

The festival did not disappoint and provided a great experience that would be on par with similar festivals outside of Israel.

When we arrived at the site we found that the festival grounds – from the parking lots to the stages, food and camping areas – everything was orderly and well placed, with a team of workers who were efficient and helpful.

Meteor even seemed more advanced than its counterparts abroad in one aspect. All the payments in the festival area were made with an entrance bracelet, which contained a chip from the BFF company that enabled participants to charge cash or credit and could be used at all the festival stands.

This is an arrangement that I have not seen before, even at the festivals I have been to in Europe, and it certainly was convenient to use, and sped up service at the stands.

The variety of drinks and food in the festival grounds was more than satisfying.

There was a slight inconvenience when entering the festival. All those entering were required to undergo strict security checks, including opening all camping equipment, which a large number of visitors brought with them. In addition, everyone had to pass through the security detectors.

Among the many performances that took place on the first day of the festival, we managed to see and hear the gamut: Ester Rada, Battles, Soulwax, Assaf Amdursky and Berry Sakharof. All of them gave excellent, relatively short performances, as is the norm in festivals with a busy lineup.

For all of the acts we watched, the sound was excellent. Soulwax was one of the more impressive performances, with the number of drummers along with its musical and visual presentation. Berry Sakharof was also great despite not appearing on stage until 3 a.m. His show was energetic and gathered a large crowd.

The crowd was quite young, most of them were 20 and older. I felt as if I was raising the average age at the event. This is usually not the case with similar festivals abroad, but I hope that if Meteor becomes a tradition, that soon an older generation will join. Even if you do not want to camp, there are definitely nearby accommodations, and it is possible to just come for the shows.

We’re already waiting for Meteor Festival 2019.

Yvette J. Deane translated this article.