Nova Music Festival: 360+ Massacred at Outdoor Concert
At the Supernova Sukkot Gathering near Kibbutz Re'im, Hamas gunmen kill more than 360 festivalgoers and abduct dozens more. It is the single largest site of massacre on October 7.
The Supernova Sukkot Gathering (Nova festival) was an all-night outdoor trance music event with approximately 3,500–4,000 attendees, held near Kibbutz Re'im in the Negev desert, approximately 5 km from the Gaza border. The festival had been underway since the previous evening when the Hamas attack began at 6:29 a.m.
The Attack on the Festival
When the rocket barrage began, festivalgoers initially scattered into bomb shelters or fled in cars toward the highway. Hamas gunmen — arriving within minutes — systematically hunted down attendees:
- 360+ people were killed at the festival site and on the roads leading away from it. Some estimates put the toll higher as remains were identified over subsequent days.
- About 40 people were abducted and taken into Gaza.
- Attendees who fled by car were intercepted on the road; many were shot in or near their vehicles.
- Several people hid in bushes, under bodies, or in trees for hours until rescued.
- Hamas fighters used festival attendees' own phones to photograph and video the attack.
The killing was documented on GoPro cameras worn by Hamas fighters and on festival attendees' phones seized during the attack.
Documented Evidence
- GoPro footage recovered from dead Hamas fighters shows the systematic killing at the festival site.
- Phone footage uploaded by Hamas attackers to victims' social media accounts documented the massacre in real time.
- Testimony from survivors, given to Israeli investigators and journalists, describes the attack in detail.
- Physical forensic evidence at the festival site was documented by Israeli police and international observers.
The Nova festival organization has created a permanent memorial site and document archive at nova-documentary.com, listing each victim by name.
The Victims
Victims ranged in age from teenagers to those in their 40s, from Israel and from more than a dozen other countries. Foreign nationals killed at the festival included citizens of Germany, France, Brazil, Mexico, the United States, and Thailand. An ongoing identification process was required for some victims due to the condition of remains.