🎵 About the Exhibition
The Weitzman will host a one-week pop-up of the Nova Music Festival Exhibition October 6-13. The exhibition narrates the events of October 7th at the Nova Music Festival that celebrated the beauty of music as a vehicle for joy and unity. It documents the devastating attack that resulted in the largest massacre in music history. This limited-time engagement empowers visitors to responsibly explore the horrific events, re-creating a moment that was dedicated to peace and love but savagely cut short. At its core, the exhibition is an emotional memorial that enables viewers to “bear witness” to the events that occurred on that day,and look with hope and healing toward the future.
🎵 Learn More
Thousands of music and arts fans gathered to celebrate life and music in Re’im Israel at the Nova Music Festival. At sunrise on Saturday, October 7th at 6:29 AM, the peaceful music festival was brutally and abruptly disrupted as thousands of Hamas terrorists invaded Israel and murdered 1200 innocent civilians and abducted more than 250 people, among festival attendees.
The dream of the Nova Festival did not die at the October 7 massacre.
This exhibition, created and directed by Reut Feingold and organized by the Nova Music Festival’s producers, pays homage to the festival attendees, including the 410 murdered by Hamas, the 22 hostages who remain in captivity, and the 3,750 survivors.
For one-week only, the pop-up, traveling version of The Moment Music Stood Still: The Nova Music Festival Exhibition, will display remnants salvaged from the festival grounds including a camping area with tents, empty bottles, and a replica DJ booth, as well as video testimonies and written first person accounts. The exhibition space will be transformed via dim and colorful lighting that evokes a concert, while creating a contemplative atmosphere.
Two scorched vehicles left at the music festival site will be stationed on the Kimmel Plaza in front of the Museum for the duration of the exhibition.
These artifacts memorialize a horrific event when the lives of festival-goers celebrating music—if they survived—were irrevocably changed. Through their stories and these artifacts, visitors will bear witness and encounter the poignant call to action embraced by survivors of the massacre: “We will dance again.”
🎵 Supporters
The Nova Music Festival Exhibition in Philadelphia is made possible in partnership with Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro.
Thank you to the following supporters of the Philadelphia exhibition
Lead Sponsor
The Kopelman Foundation
Co-sponsors
The Connelly Foundation
I Believe Israeli Women
Jane and Daniel Och Family Foundation
Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia
Neubauer Family Foundation
(as of 10/2/2024)
🎵 Hours & Tickets
The Exhibition is recommended for ages 16+ due to the sensitive and graphic nature of some of the content. This exhibition includes gunshots, shouts, flickering lights, complex and difficult content to watch, and survivors’ testimonies. Bodies are blurred. Entry to the exhibition is at the visitor’s own discretion and sole responsibility.
This exhibition is free of charge. A portion of all donations made with admission will be donated to the Tribe of Nova foundation which supports long-term recovery from trauma for Festival survivors and the bereaved families. Advance reservations strongly recommended. Operating hours vary daily. Reserve your tickets now.
Remaining dates and times:
Wednesday 10/9
Museum & Nova Exhibition Hours 10 am – 5 pm
(last entry 4:30 pm)
Thursday 10/10
Museum & Nova Exhibition Hours 10 am – 5 pm
(last entry 4:30 pm)
Friday 10/11
Museum & Nova Exhibition Hours 10 am – 3pm
(last entry 2:30 pm)
Early closing in observance of Yom Kippur
Saturday 10/12
Museum closed in observance of Yom Kippur
Sunday 10/13
Museum Hours 10 am – 5 pm (last entry 4:30 pm)
Nova Exhibition Hours 2:30 – 5:00 (last entry 4:30 pm)
Nova Exhibition admission for Sunday 10/13 is sold out.
Pre-registered visitors will receive an email with additional details about their Sunday visit. While we cannot guarantee walk-up admission, we will have a standby line and accommodate standby guests if possible.
The Museum’s core exhibition galleries are open and free from 10am- 5pm. NOTE: General Museum Admission on Sunday does not include the Nova Music Festival Exhibition.
Schwartz’s narrative not only captures the brutality of the violence but also highlights the complex human relationships that once existed in Hebron, offering a sobering reflection on the collapse of peaceful coexistence and the ongoing struggles for peace and equality.
