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Several bands have withdrawn from Victorious, a music festival backed by private equity group KKR, this weekend in Portsmouth after organisers cut the set of an Irish group displaying a Palestinian flag on stage.
The boycott by the bands — including one of the biggest on the bill for Saturday, The Last Dinner Party — is the latest setback for Superstruct.
The music festival operator — which was bought by KKR last year for €1.3bn — owns Victorious as well as a number of other similar events across Europe, including Hungary’s Sziget and Germany’s Wacken Open Air.
Earlier this year, some musicians and DJs announced a boycott of Sónar, Superstruct’s electronic music festival in Barcelona, over investments by KKR that are linked to Israel.
On Friday, Irish folk band The Mary Wallopers were midway through a song when one member of the festival crew went on stage to remove the Palestinian flag. The band — in footage shown on their Instagram page — started a chant of “Free Palestine” as the sound was cut.
Many bands have used their stage shows this summer to show support for the Palestinian cause amid Israel’s war with Hamas, including at festivals such as Glastonbury.
The Last Dinner Party said on Instagram that they were “outraged by the decision made to silence The Mary Wallopers” and accused the organisers of Victorious, which runs between Saturday and Monday, of “political censorship”.
The Cliffords and The Academic were other bands that pulled out from the weekend festival.
In a statement, Victorious said it supported the right of artists to freely express their views from the stage and that its “policy of not allowing flags of any kind, which has been in place for many years for wider event management and safety reasons, is not meant to compromise that right”.
It added: “We didn’t handle the explanation of our policies sensitively or far enough in advance to allow a sensible conclusion to be reached. This put the band and our own team in a difficult situation which never should have arisen. We would like to sincerely apologise to all concerned.”
The festival organisers said they were “sorry that The Last Dinner Party have decided not to perform” and promised to make “a substantial donation to humanitarian relief efforts for the Palestinian people”.
Events put on by Superstruct have been more broadly targeted by pro-Palestinian campaigners objecting to its ownership by KKR, joining other festivals, including SXSW, facing boycotts from artists and fans because of links to companies that operate or invest in Israel.
Alex Mahon, former boss of UK public sector broadcaster Channel 4, is joining Superstruct as chief executive later this year.
The campaigns follow a similar wave of protests against UK book festivals last year, which led to the end of sponsorship deals with Baillie Gifford after the Edinburgh-based fund manager was attacked for its purported links to Israel and the fossil fuel industry.
Superstruct has previously said in a statement that it was “horrified by the scale of suffering and the ongoing crisis” and called “for an immediate end to the conflict, and for humanitarian aid to reach those suffering in Gaza without delay”.
It added that Superstruct was “independently run, and makes its own decisions based on what is in the best interests of our fans, artists, partners, and colleagues”.
KKR did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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