An abundance of music and art festivals compete for performers and ticket sales each year during Hol Hamoed Succot.
By NATHAN BURSTEIN
An abundance of music and art festivals compete for performers and ticket sales each year during the first part of Hol Hamoed Succot. Decidedly fewer recreational choices are offered during the second week of Hol Hamoed, however, a fact which organizers of the eleventh Sagol Festival plan to take advantage of this week. Scheduled for October 23-25, the festival offers Succot festival-goers another opportunity to relax, socialize and take in music and dance performances outdoors.
Billed by organizers as "the first festival of its kind in Israel," the Succot's Sagol Festival is taking place on the beach at Club Achziv. The event will feature a wide array of lectures, artistic performances, and sessions devoted to yoga, meditation and healing. Organizers expect over 4,000 participants at the festival, which will also attract more than 200 lecturers and activity leaders from Israel and abroad. Seventeen alternative medicine specialists from Israel and the United States will also take part in Sagol. Special areas of the festival grounds will be set aside for meditation, movement exercises and "daily development" activities intended to promote the health benefits of meditation and other elements of an alternative lifestyle. Children's activities will also be offered, along with a special section for toddlers and younger children.
Held twice annually since 2000, the Sagol Festival is designed both for longtime practitioners and newcomers to the world of meditation and alternative medicine. Sagol organizers will host a conference for professional healers for the second time during the festival, and lectures will also be given for those with an interest in self-treatment.
World music and prayer-based musical performances will be among the events taking place on the festival stage, and theater- and Kabbalah-based workshops will be offered. Tickets to Sagol can be purchased in advance for NIS 220 or at the entrance gate for NIS 250. Children between ages 4 and 12 can enter the festival for NIS 10, with festival organizers donating the fee to Yad b'Yad, an organization working on behalf of troubled youth.
For advance tickets and information, call (08) 993-3960 or visit the festival's website at www.sagol.org.