It took place in Tel Aviv and was held at Heichal HaTarbut on 2 May 1960 as part of the 1960 Independence Day celebrations.
The winning song was "Erev Ba" (Evenfall; Hebrew: ערב בא), which was written by Oded Avisar and composed by Arie Levanon and was performed by Aliza Kashi and by Shimon Bar.
The idea for the competition came from Kol Yisrael producer Israel Daliyot after seeing people celebrating Domenico Modugno's victory in the 1959 Sanremo Music Festival while on vacation in Rome.
[1] Daliyot approached the Israel Broadcasting Service, and with involvement of the Prime Minister's Office, the first festival was held as part of the 1960 Independence Day celebrations, using budget allocated for the celebrations, rather than Kol Yisrael budget.
The song "Leil HaChag" was originally written by Iraqi Jew Shlomo Sha'ashu'a in Arabic and was translated to Hebrew by poet Yosef Lichtenboim.