Bands Boycott Festival Over Support for Palestine

• Mary Wallopers called for support for Palestine at the festival.
• Organizers opted out due to the incident and apologized for it.
• The Last Dinner Party and other bands boycotted the festival.

At the Victorious festival in Portsmouth, several bands withdrew from performances after the Irish collective Mary Wallopers called for support for Palestine.

On August 22, the band Mary Wallopers raised the Palestinian flag and called for "free Palestine." Following this, festival organizers cut the sound of the band, which sparked outrage among the public. Video of the incident showed a festival representative attempting to take down the flag from the stage. Subsequently, the band issued a statement, in which they explained that the reason for the sound cut was related to "discriminatory remarks."

Festival organizers initially clarified that the sound cut was linked to the context of the expression, but later opted out of the situation. They stated that they did not intend to prevent artists from expressing their thoughts and apologized for making a substantial contribution to the Palestinian cause.

In response to the actions of the organizers, the band The Last Dinner Party canceled their performance at the festival, emphasizing that they could not participate under political censorship. Other bands, such as Cliffords and The Academic, also decided not to perform, indicating the impossibility of playing at a festival that limits freedom of speech.

During their performance at the festival, frontman of Vampire Weekend, Ezra Koenig, also expressed support for Mary Wallopers, stating that the punishment for raising the flag is unjust.

Tags: Politics/Culture