Despite the troubling cultural boycotts against Israeli artists worldwide, 50 industry professionals from five continents will attend the Music Showcase Festival in November, an annual event exposing festival directors, producers, DJs, music executives, talent scouts, and others to Israeli artists and entertainers.
“We’re really surprised,” said Hadas Vanunu, the Showcase artistic director. “I was readying myself for it not happening at all, so we’re pretty proud of ourselves.”
Guests will travel to Israel for the week-long event from the US, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, India, South Korea, Taiwan, China and more.
The event, currently in its 16th year, is an annual opportunity for industry professionals to experience Israel’s varied musical landscape.
This year, however, it almost didn’t happen.
Get The Times of Israel’s Daily Edition
by email and never miss our top stories
By signing up, you agree to the terms
In September, when the Foreign Ministry said it was pulling funding from much of its programming due to budget constraints, the Showcase organizers were certain their budgets were gone, after reserving and purchasing plane tickets and hotel rooms for their guests.
A recent Showcase Festival, organized each year in Israel to expose Israeli artists to artistic directors and booking agents, taking place November 18-23, 2025 (Courtesy)
Foreign Ministry budgets and politics are always an issue, said Vanunu, but the previous year’s Showcase had already been a struggle to put together following the October 7 Hamas attack, given a global reticence to come to Israel.
Last year, they turned to “old friends,” said Vanunu — those who had attended the Showcase in the past, drawing from a list of 1,500 past attendees.
“We found around 20 people, and we were very proud of ourselves,” she said. “They were mostly Jewish or pro-Israel, but events came out of it.”
Vanunu was sure that finding guests would be even more complicated this year, given the cultural boycott that has gained steam in recent months, as the international community has targeted Israel’s arts and culture industry over frustration with the situation in Gaza.
Besides Hollywood celebrities signing a letter in September pledging not to work with the Israeli film industry and some musicians asking not to have their music distributed in Israel, individual Israeli artists and entertainers supporting Israel have been struggling with last-minute cancellations, protests inside venues, and difficulties with bookings.
Instead, Vanunu and her team looked to new territories in addition to Europe, this time focusing on the US and Asia.
“The US market is more open to us, so we went there, even though it costs more money to get them here,” she said. “And Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, they were all interested.”
In the end, 50 industry professionals will attend the week-long event.
“The interest surprised us,” said Vanunu. “We had 50 people before the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was even signed, and I didn’t expect that.”
The poster for the upcoming Showcase, organized each year in Israel to expose Israeli artists to artistic directors and booking agents, taking place November 18-23, 2025 (Courtesy)
They successfully avoided the Foreign Ministry budget cuts, as most of their contracts had been signed beforehand, and the ministry honored the plans.
The festival, a joint initiative of Jerusalem music venue Yellow Submarine and the division for Cultural Diplomacy at the Foreign Ministry, with support from other official bodies, will open in Jerusalem on November 18 before moving to Tel Aviv three days later.
Performers include heavy metal band Orphaned Land, DJ Darwish with crooner Marina Maximilian, Ehud Banai and the Dub Refugees, singer Valerie Hamaty, trumpeter Avishai Cohen, drummer Tuval Haim (bereaved brother of hostage Yotam Haim), Tamir Muskat and Tom Meira Armony, Yemen Blues and others.
Drummer and bereaved brother Tuval Haim, center back row, with his band, Pulkes, which will perform at Showcase, November 18-23, 2025 (Credit: Uri Barkat)
It’s an event that has helped pave the way for hundreds of artists, including Noga Erez, Lola Marsh, and Tatran.
And yet, said Vanunu, it was harder to convince artists to participate this year, with many despondent after two tough years at home and abroad.
“The indie artists have really been hurt, and they haven’t made any money,” said Vanunu. “We work with them very patiently, talking to them about the new markets that are opening up, like Dubai and South Korea.”
There’s also an effort made to explain the Israeli reality to the visiting professionals.
Last year’s Showcase participants spent time at locations that described the traumas of October 7, with trips to the Nova site, to Kibbutz Kfar Aza, and a talk with bereaved hostage mother Rachel Goldberg-Polin.
“It was very emotional, so much so that our Ukrainian guest got back to Tel Aviv and before dinner, went and got tattooed with a red anemone, the symbolic flower of the south,” said Vanunu. “It’s important to show them everything and not remain in a bubble.”
This year, said Vanunu, they want to show guests the reality of life in Israel, including a joint event with the Israel Festival team that includes artists’ reflections on the last two years, and the final night conference, held at the Da Vinci Culture Hub, which was damaged by an Iranian missile in June and is now being restored.
A full program with all details, times, events, registration, and tickets is available on the International Music Showcase 2025 website.
