Irish folk music band The Mary Wallopers have said they “reject” the “misleading” statements issued by organisers of a UK festival claiming the band used a “discriminatory” chant during their set.
The band were performing at the Victorious Festival in Portsmouth on Friday when they claimed they were “cut off” for displaying a Palestinian flag on stage.
A spokesperson for the festival said the band had their set cut short for using a “discriminatory” chant.
The group shared a video on Instagram on Saturday of their performance, claiming that the organisers’ statement was “misleading” and that a festival crew member had interfered with their show.
A statement read: “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 @victoriousfestival cut our gig short for having a Palestinian flag on stage.
“The festival have released a misleading statement to the press claiming they cut our sound because of a discriminatory chant, and not the band’s call to Free Palestine.
“Our video clearly shows a Victorious crew member coming on stage, interfering with our show, removing the flag from the stage and then the sound being cut following a chant of “Free Palestine”. The same crew member is later heard in the video saying ‘you aren’t playing until the flag is removed’.
“We completely reject Victorious’ portrayal of today’s events and request that they retract their statement immediately.
“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 its statement, a spokesperson for Victorious said: “We spoke to the artist before the performance regarding the festival’s long-standing policy of not allowing flags of any kind at the event, but that we respect their right to express their views during the show.
“Although a flag was displayed on stage contrary to our policy, and this was raised with the artist’s crew, the show was not ended at this point, and it was the artist’s decision to stop the song.
“The decision by the event management to cut the sound and end the performance was only taken after the band used a chant which is widely understood to have a discriminatory context.
“To be clear, we respect the right of artists to use their platform to express their views within the inclusive nature of the event and it was not the band’s call to ‘Free Palestine’ which resulted in this outcome.”
The Mary Wallopers received support from Irish rap trio Kneecap, who wrote in a post on X: “Speak up against genocide in England and you’re treated like a criminal. Up the Mary Wallopers.”
Last week, Kneecap’s Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, aka Mo Chara, appeared in a London court on a terror-related charge for allegedly displaying a flag of a proscribed organisation – Hizbullah, in this case ‐ at a gig they played in London in November 2024.
After three hours of legal argument the judge adjourned the case until September 26th.
Ó hAnnaidh’s first court appearance was in June, not long before Kneecap played Glastonbury. In response to the controversy, the BBC, which broadcast 90 hours of Glastonbury coverage, decided not to stream the gig live.
The BBC last month issued an apology for the divisive set by punk rap duo Bob Vylan at Glastonbury in June.
Bob Vylan performed on the West Holts Stage before Kneecap and led the crowd in chants of “Free, free Palestine” and “Death, death to the IDF”. – PA
