LONDON — Down an alleyway behind a small pub in the hipster enclave of Shoreditch, visitors in the know will find the Nova Exhibition, which opened to the public on Wednesday.
The homage to the 364 people murdered at the Nova festival — who were among some 1,200 people in southern Israel slaughtered by Hamas-led terrorists on October 7, 2023, in addition to 251 taken hostage that day — is understated by design, with little to announce it from the street. No signs point the way to the display, and curious passersby may wonder about the large traffic blockades and unusually high number of police officers patrolling the area.
Shoreditch is part of the London borough of Hackney, which has just elected a mayor from the Green Party — known for putting anti-Israel activism front and center in its campaigning. And the exhibition’s opening comes days after the city was brought to a virtual standstill by two opposing demonstrations, neither one a welcome sight for the Jewish community: a pro-Palestinian march to commemorate Nakba Day, and a far-right rally led by anti-Islam activist Tommy Robinson.
That, along with a recent wave of antisemitic and anti-Israel activity in Britain — including beatings, stabbings, arson and deadly terror attacks, against a backdrop of increasingly visible hate speech and vandalism — might have given potential visitors pause. But turnout is already high, say organizers.
Suzanne Bond of Essex visits London’s Nova Exhibition on May 20, 2026. (Lianne Kolirin)
Hundreds of people passed through the heavily secured doors on the first day, while thousands more tickets have been sold for the six-week run.
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Among the first inside was Suzanne Bond, who came with her husband from Essex.
“I’ve seen so many documentaries on it — but out there [at the exhibition], you just feel like you’re there,” Bond said through tears. “I can’t imagine what they went through that day. It’s very distressing, but I had to come.”
“Watching [the documentary on the massacre] ‘We Will Dance Again,’ you see them all dancing and then all of a sudden the evil just comes through. I know people support the other side, but I don’t know how they can,” said Bond, who was wearing a badge bearing an intertwined Union Jack and Star of David.
The exhibition itself is a recreation of the chaos and carnage wreaked on the Nova festival, complete with burnt out skeletons of vehicles, empty tents, upturned portable toilets and countless shoes, clothes and other personal effects discarded by those who fled.
It features audio capturing the horrors — the piercing sounds of rocket fire, continual honking of car horns, distant screams of suffering, and cries of “allahu akbar” by the marauding terrorists — all while extensive footage and recordings from that day play out on TV screens and mobile phones.
A photo from the Nova Exhibition in London, May 19, 2026. (James Shaw)
The experience is guaranteed to turn your stomach and leave you with a dull, grinding headache. Yet Lisa Marlowe is determined to be here every day of the exhibition’s run.
Her son Jake Marlowe had moved to Israel in 2021 and was working as an unarmed security guard at the festival. When the rockets began flying and Hamas stormed the barricades, Jake didn’t run, but stayed to save others. Tragically, he died after being shot nine times.
“I feel like my Jakey is coming home for six weeks, which is just unbelievable,” Marlowe told The Times of Israel. “Although I’ve got photos and things of him on the phone, I get to see him every day, larger than life, which is wonderful.”
Together with her husband Michael, 64, Marlowe is determined for Jake’s story to be heard in the city where he grew up.
“It’s very important it comes here,” she said of the exhibition, which includes a memorial for their son. “Everybody must know what happened there, and there can’t be any denying it.”
The Nova festival massacre was the site of horrific atrocities, including widespread sexual assault. In addition to those murdered, hundreds more were injured and dozens were abducted from the trance music party. Each day of the exhibition, survivors and bereaved relatives will share their experiences of the carnage and its aftermath. Many heartbreaking stories have emerged from October 7, but for the community here in Britain, Jake has become almost emblematic.
Michael and Lisa Marlowe with their son Jake in an undated photo taken before the October 7, 2023, massacre. (Courtesy of the Marlowe family)
The experience could have left Jake’s family feeling isolated, but Marlowe describes how they have been engulfed by love since their son was murdered.
“The people we’ve met — we’ve been beyond lucky,” she said. “These people have opened their arms and enveloped us in their love and care.”
One of those Marlowe now counts among her friends is Jo Woolfe, who spearheaded the campaign to bring the exhibition to London following stints in cities including New York, Berlin and Buenos Aires.
Jo Woolfe, left, with Nova festival co-founder Ofer Amir and co-chair of the London exhibition Sara Dein. (Courtesy of the Nova Exhibition)
Half Israeli, Woolfe was heavily involved for two years after October 7 in campaigning to free the hostages being held in Gaza. Woolfe first heard about the exhibition while in LA two years ago and later became even more determined to bring it to London after seeing it in Toronto.
“I had a lot of people say to me, ‘Do you really think this is the right time? It’s so hostile,’” said Woolfe. “Unfortunately, I think this is the only time to do it. It’s no good doing it in five years’ time when, please God, everything’s okay. It needs to be now.”
“People need to learn about Nova,” she said. “If my kids go to a festival or a concert, I don’t tell them to be careful of the terrorists, I tell them to have a good time. It could have been any of our kids.”
Lizzy, a teacher visiting the exhibition who requested that her last name be withheld, felt the same.
“I have children who are also in their 20s, and the more that I’ve read, the more heartbreaking this story is,” she said.
Lizzy said she knew little about the Middle East before October 7 but has since joined numerous vigils alongside the Jewish community.
“In London, every other week you have thousands of people marching [for Gaza], but when British Jews come together it’s really just British Jews,” she said.
Guests visit the Nova Exhibition in London, May 20, 2026. (Lianne Kolirin)
“My father fought during World War II, and he said, ‘You have to bear witness to the atrocities that went on in Auschwitz,’ and I feel that’s what we as non-Jewish British people need to do now,” Lizzy said.
Standing and taking in the smiling photos of the hundreds brutally murdered at Nova was Rosie Cresner. She said she felt it was an “important time to come.”
A photo from the Nova Exhibition in London, May 19, 2026. (James Shaw)
Cresner said she felt nervous about coming to the exhibition, but the feeling was more about how “I was going to respond to seeing this” rather than concern about the security situation.
“At first, I think it was quite difficult to absorb. When I got inside and saw someone I knew, I just started crying,” Cresner said.
Also visiting was Mary, a doctor who asked not to give her full name. She said she didn’t know about the exhibition until reading about it on Tuesday, and then felt compelled to come.
When asked what struck her most, Mary became tearful.
“The thing that probably was most painful is that in the pictures of the people who died at Nova, there’s a disabled girl, and I have a disabled daughter, and I found that particularly hard because they’re so vulnerable and they don’t understand — and whoever’s war it is, it isn’t their war,” Mary said.
Sixteen-year-old Ruth Peretz was murdered at the festival along with her father, Erick, 58. Ruth was born with cerebral palsy and muscular dystrophy and used a wheelchair. Erick had taken her to the festival because of her love of music.
A photo from the Nova Exhibition in London, May 19, 2026. (James Shaw)
Visitor Patrick Seamus McGhee is an honorary research fellow in religious history at Durham University.
“I think it’s very important to see firsthand the scale and the depth of the evil that was perpetrated on October 7, especially at a time when a lot of people look away more, equivocate or try to make excuses for some of the geopolitical things happening,” said McGhee. “What we need more than anything else is moral clarity and honesty about this terrible, inexcusable atrocity, so that’s why I wanted to make sure I came as soon as I could.”
Prior to the opening, reports emerged that police had asked organizers to remove banners for the event out of concern that the location could be targeted by terror attacks or mobs of protesters. Woolfe, who took the call from the police, said it was because the banner had been put up earlier than expected.
A photo from the Nova Exhibition in London, May 19, 2026. (James Shaw)
It now stands proud, wrapping around the entrance to the impressive underground exhibition space. Nevertheless, it is clear that bringing the display to Britain is no small achievement in the current climate.
As co-founder of the actual Nova festival, Yagil Rimony was in charge of its security. Since then, he has been responsible for securing the memorial exhibition wherever it is staged worldwide.
Rimony expressed solidarity with Britain’s Jewish community at a time when “antisemitism is once again raising its ugly head openly and unashamedly,” and went on to stress that people should not be deterred from visiting because of that.
“I want to reassure the London public that robust arrangements will be in place both inside and outside the venue, and that we are working in close coordination with the Metropolitan Police,” Rimony said. “Visitors should come without hesitation, and see for themselves what 600,000 people around the world have already experienced.”