Several bands have boycotted the Victorious Festival in the UK after organisers cut off audio during Irish folk group The Mary Wallopers' set as they were leading a "Free Palestine" chant.
British alternative rock band The Last Dinner Party, Irish band Cliffords and Irish indie group The Academic pulled out hours before their scheduled performances in solidarity with The Mary Wallopers.
Held in the city of Portsmouth since 2012, more than 80,000 music fans attended the first day of the three-day festival, according to the BBC, with headliners including American rockers Queens of the Stone Age and English indie group Kaiser Chiefs.
On Friday, The Mary Wallopers' set was dramatically cut short after one of the group's members walked on stage with a Palestinian flag. Following a brief altercation, a crew member was seen removing the flag, which led to frontman Charles Hendy stopping his set asking for the flag to be brought back. He then led the crowd with chants of "Free Palestine".
The group shared a video of the incident on social media on Saturday.
"We completely reject Victorious’ portrayal of today’s events and request that they retract their statement immediately," they said.
"Yesterday, a famine was declared in Gaza, where at least 65 people were killed by Israeli attacks, all the while Israel pushed ahead with plans to split the West Bank in two. These are the important facts about yesterday.
"We are uploading this video so everybody can see Victorious Festival cut our gig short for having a Palestinian flag on stage. We know this is getting some attention and we don’t want another distraction which takes attention away from the genocide that is happening in Palestine."
In a statement on social media, Victorious Festival apologised for the incident and said it has had a policy of not allowing flags of any kind on stage for many years "for wider event management and safety reasons".
"We accept that, although mics remained live for longer, sound for The Mary Wallopers' audience was cut as described in the band's video and that comments after that were not audible to the public," it said. "We are sorry that this situation has come about and will be making a substantial donation to humanitarian relief efforts for the Palestinian people."
Following the statement, The Last Dinner Party announced they were boycotting the festival.
"We are outraged by the decision made to silence The Mary Wallopers yesterday at Victorious. As a band, we cannot co-sign political censorship and will therefore be boycotting the festival today," they posted on Instagram on Saturday. "We are so deeply sorry to our fans who were looking forward to seeing us today, and we are devastated to be put in this position that upsets both us and you. Free Palestine."
The Academic followed suit, saying they would not "play at a festival that silences free speech and the right to express your views".
"We stand in solidarity with the other Irish acts here this weekend. Up the Mary Wallopers. Free Palestine," the group posted.
Members of the Irish group Cliffords also said they refused to play "if we are to be censored for showing our support to the people of Palestine".
"We were not made aware of a 'no flag' policy when we agreed to play Victorious, and while we understand their predicament, we have no intention of playing if this is how artists are treated for speaking out against genocide," the group posted, along with a photo of its members holding a Palestinian flag.
"We will be donating to Medical Aid for Palestinians. We’ll put a link on our story so you can donate too," they added.
