One might think that the south of Israel, battered by the October 7 attacks and the subsequent war, would be the last place in the country to host an international arts festival.

But, as the CEO of Beer Sheva’s International Fringe Festival (IFF) Efrat Ziv Aspis puts it, “the residents of the south need a boost of morale during these times.”

“We wondered and debated if we should stage it this year … and ultimately decided to be a ray of light and comfort,” she tells ISRAEL21c.

Fringe is a multidisciplinary performing arts festival that takes place at multiple locations of the host city, and includes categories such as theater, comedy, dance, music, poetry and art exhibitions. The IFF is celebrating its 14th anniversary this year. It will take place July 14-18, with this year’s theme being “life as relationships.”

Israel’s upcoming Fringe festival is one of 400 that take place annually all over the globe. (The Edinburgh Fringe Festival is the largest and most well-known. In fact, Netflix’s recent hit show “Baby Reindeer” debuted as a stage play at the Edinburgh festival many years ago.) 

The goal of the IFF is to make art accessible to the general public, which is why the tickets for the shows are normally very affordable.

“The prices range from zero [free entry] to 99 shekels (26 dollars),” says Aspis.

“Our international partners turned us down”

The Israeli version of the festival is not an open access event, unlike many of its international counterparts; it has a selection committee that chooses what artists will be featured.

“We plan the festival a year ahead – publish open calls, send invitations and select the artists we want to perform, both from Israel and from around the world. But this time, when we began sending out invitations to our international partners, almost all declined,” says Aspis.

As a result, over 60 potential shows had to be removed from the itinerary, leaving the IFF practically with no international representation, as well as a shortage of shows and artists.  

“We managed to book only one international show, which is a co-production between an artist from Spain and an artist from France, combining dance and object art,” she added.

After deciding to go ahead with the festival despite the war, the event was once again in jeopardy. 

The IFF decided to invite some of the most well-known artists in Israel, hoping they would fill the gap. Not only did the invited artists step up to the plate, but according to Aspis, others “reached out to us, asking if they could perform at the festival.”

Getting the vibe right

Aspis notes the Israeli stars weren’t chosen at random, but rather to complement the spirit of the times. 

Among the artists who will perform at the festival is Kobi Oz, the lead singer of Israeli rock group Teapacks, which represented Israel at 2007 Eurovision Song Contest. Oz will tell the audience his story of growing up in Sderot, the biggest city attacked by Hamas on October 7. 

Popular rapper Omer Habro, who goes by the stage name Jimbo J, will also perform at the festival. 

Habro is a resident of the Gaza border region who survived the October 7 attacks. Only two months before the start of the war, Habro released a single titled “Booms,” which talks about life under the threat of rocket fire from the Hamas-controlled enclave. 

Habro’s sound technician, Guy Iluz, was kidnapped from the Supernova music festival and later murdered in Gaza. 

Normally, many of the IFF shows and exhibitions take place in open areas of the Old City of Beer Sheva, creating an atmosphere of a massive party. 

This year, Aspis says, ”we don’t want it to be a party.”  

This year it is something different.