When war interrupts your festival

This article talks about how the current war conditions in Israel have discouraged people from going to festivals. Interestingly, the festival organizers expect the government to compensate them for the disruption.

The curtain falls on an empty stage - Haaretz - Israel News

"Something always happens that seems to pose a threat to the foreigners," says Gilad Sheba, the director of Keshet Eilon, a music festival featuring master classes for violinists from all over the world. International masters come to the kibbutz under the sponsorship of violinist and conductor, Shlomo Mintz, and conduct the classes.

"I will never forget the concert that was held in 1993 during the war in Lebanon," he recalls. "The violinist Hagai Shaham was playing in the kibbutz concert hall, which had once been a chicken house, and dozens of Katyusha rockets whistled above our heads. We decided not to stop the concert so as not to create a panic, but the next day, we understood that we had to leave and move to Ramat Efal near Tel Aviv. We continued to hold the masters classes during the intifada too. We never canceled and hundreds of students were registered."

... "We paid for the guest rooms in Kibbutz Eilon," explains Sheba, "and we have to return the money to the students who are not coming. In addition, the faculty has remained almost unchanged despite the fact that the number of participants has gone down to half of what it was supposed to be. We sent a letter to Culture Minister Ophir Pines-Paz, and wrote that we expected help from the government."

...Like Sheba and Solomon, Agmon also expects to be compensated for the losses. "Minister Pines-Paz was here and he promised that the state would compensate us," he says. The minister has indeed declared that he will allocate NIS 10 million for losses caused to cultural organizations by the war. "We have asked the treasury to indemnify the ministry," he says. "We will look into everyone's needs, and that includes institutions that have been forced to close down as a result of the events. No one will be left out."