As the holiday season brings the country to a standstill (what with the Jewish New Year, Yom Kippur and Sukkot all happening in September), it might be a good idea to just, well, go with the flow. If you’re a music fan, the perfect place for you is down at the Tamar Festival, next to the Dead Sea, where a variety of local big names (and Brit 80s legend Paul Young) will be performing over a period of 5 days. Mixing some night-time performances with some daytime Dead Sea sight-seeing could be an awesome way to spend late September in Israel!
The concerts kick off on Friday 24th September, and continue til the wee hours of the 29th. Among the big names from the Israeli music scene will be two of our favorites, Asaf Avidan (who will be performing a sunrise concert at Masada on the 28th, starts at 3:30am) and Balkan Beat Box (who will be playing with Matisyahu at Nahal Zohar (Zohar Creek) also on the 28th, at 9:00pm).
Also performing will be Din Din Aviv, Idan Reichel, and Carolina among others, and watch out for the free gig over at Sdom Square on the 27th at 8:00pm by Groovatron, Israeli funksters supreme. If you’re keen to catch Paul Young, who seems to have fallen in love with Israel recently, he’s performing on the 27th at Nahal Zohar, 9:00pm.
Tickets are priced between 150-220 shekels depending on the show. The concerts held nightly at Masada are actually the cheaper ones, maxing out at 180 shekels. You can get your tickets over here, while for more info about the festival, check out the Hebrew site: www.tamarfestival.com (no English anywhere I’m afraid).
By the way, if you were wondering, Tamar is Date (hence the sweet and sticky) in English, and that’s something you’ll see quite a lot of in this area, orchards of date trees (or palm trees). Set against a desert background they provide an awesome view, so don’t forget the camera, especially if you’re going for the Masada sunrise concerts.