When one thinks of Boombamela, it’s usually hippies and crowds of teenagers that come to mind. However, the Nitzanim beach music festival, the longest running in Israel, is much more than the music and the location. “Our slogan is ‘Free Your Mind.’ We try to invent ourselves every year, and call for people to lose their boundaries for three days,” says the festival’s art director, Galia Arnon. “We are not a music festival, an art festival nor a spiritual festival. Rather we are a combination of culture and leisure under one roof.”The festival promises an array of interesting activities alongside the headlining music, including a cabaret stage, stand-up acts and yoga, to name but a few. There will also be, for the religious attendees, a Chabad house and a special Kabbalat Shabbat parade. The bands themselves are similarly impressive: 300 performances of varying styles will be playing on six stages, some of which include the Mercedes Band, Hili Yalon, Hatikva 6, Libi Ran, Hatavlinim, Mike’s Place Blues and more. The festival also sees the triumphant return by popular demand of Faceboomband, a competition in which anonymous bands compete through Facebook to win a chance to perform at the festival. “Our audience chose all the shows,” Arnon reveals. "People don’t give enough credit to the youth, but our audience is all into rock and reggae. They are a great audience. Mischievous and fun loving. I love them.” But the festival is open to everyone, she says, “There are also 30-year-olds and families that attend the festival, but they usually stay only one night. Perhaps the festival is too intense for them.”
