Nova Community Honors October 7 Victims at Burning Man Festival
At the Burning Man festival in Nevada, the Nova community held its annual memorial ceremony at the Nova Heaven installation, featuring speeches by survivors and recently released hostages.
Memorial Ceremony at Burning Man Honors October 7 Victims
Last Saturday, at precisely 06:29, the music stopped at the Nova Heaven art installation at the Burning Man festival in Nevada. The time was chosen to mark the exact moment the Nova music festival was halted with the outbreak of the October 7, 2023 attacks. This marks the third consecutive year that members of the Nova community have held a memorial ceremony at the event to honor the victims and support survivors and their families.
Ofir Amir, a co-founder of the Nova festival, a massacre survivor, and one of the founders of the Tribe Nova Association, delivered the keynote address.
At this exact time, 06:29, on October 7, 2023, the music stopped at the Nova festival. And today, here at Nova Heaven, we stop the music once again. We stop to remember and pay respect, but most importantly — to spread the light.
Message of Unity and the 'Let There Be Light' Installation
Amir addressed the participants gathered around the installation, emphasizing the core values of the community.
Nova has always been about music, freedom, and dancing together as one. I want us to remember a very simple thing: we are all one. No matter where you come from, what you believe in, or what language you speak. When we choose love over hatred and kindness over anger, we are stronger together.
This year's installation, titled Let There Be Light, consists of 24 triangular structures surrounding an elevated hexagonal stage, featuring 413 points of light at its center representing the individuals commemorated by the project. Amir noted that every light serves as a reminder that even when lives are cut short, the light does not disappear.
Emotional Appearance by Released Hostages
During the ceremony, Amir invited former hostages Evyatar David and Guy Gilboa-Dalal to the stage. The childhood friends were abducted together from the Nova festival and returned in October 2025 as part of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
They survived captivity, returned home, and today they stand here with us — free, alive, and surrounded by love. Evyatar and Guy, look around you. This is love, this is unity, this is life.
Amir concluded his remarks with a message to the victims, promising that their music would never stop. Following the speech, Omri Sassi, a Nova producer and massacre survivor whom Amir introduced as the brother and friend who saved his life, took over the turntables alongside Israeli trance artist Captain Hook.
