Didgeridoo festival…in Israel!
More than 1000 enthusiasts attended the 6th annual Didgeridoo Festival… close to Tel Aviv.
Festival organiser Yoram Sivan told J-Wire: “There are three professional didgeridoo makers in Israel and many enthusiasts produce their own. I have imported them in the past from Australia but the local ones are more in demand. This means we do not have to depend on Australian forests for our wood…we use recycled wood mostly from fallen trees.”
Sivan is a player, teacher and maker of didgeridoos and developed the idea of a fesitval six years ago with Gill Karniel, an alternative music producer and Eran Hollander, a popular didgeridoo musician in Israel.
Sivan told J-Wire that no Aboriginal Australian had ever attended the annual festival but he has made contact with some in Australia and has hopes for their attendance at future festivals. However, they have had Australians participate in the festivals along with guests from the USA, Hungary, France, Mongolia, Germany and Russia.
The Israeli musician hopes to have more Australians involved in his project. Sivan bought his first didgeridoo in India 13 years ago having been fascinated by one brought to Israel by a tourist. He said: “We play it both as a solo instrument but fans really love to hear it played as part of bands playing many various music styles.”
The festival was held in Kibbutz Horshim…not far from Tel Aviv.
