Red Sea Jazz Festival sign up Jason Lindner, the Cohen Brothers and Roberto Rodriguez as last-minute substitutes for the canceled shows.
A line of cars snaked into Eilat yesterday afternoon and all flights to the city were fully booked - despite fears of poor attendance at a jazz festival there, following recent terror attacks in the south.
The producers of the Red Sea Jazz Festival, now under way in the southern city, were happy to see that a convoy of cars more than 10 kilometers long stretched back along the road from the entrance to Eilat.
"Four thousand people on the first day
would make me very happy," Miki Gov, the festival's producer, told Haaretz about an hour before the festival opened. He said very few people had asked for their money back following cancelations by four overseas artists, out of a total of 11, due to the recent tensions in the south.
Jazz singer Lizz Wright canceled this morning, following cancelations by three other artists, as reported in yesterday's Haaretz.
Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov and Culture and Sports Ministry's director general Orly Fruman will be arriving tomorrow and will take part in the festival's traditional cocktail party tomorrow afternoon.
The show's producers were able to sign up Jason Lindner, the Cohen Brothers and Roberto Rodriguez as last-minute substitutes for the canceled shows.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/the-show-must-go-on-jazz-lovers-flock-to-eilat-undeterred-by-fears-of-terror-1.379916