Irish band Mary Wallopers cut off mid-set at UK festival after waving Palestinian flag
An Irish folk group was removed mid-set from a UK music festival after unfurling a Palestinian flag and leading a pro-Palestine chant.
The Mary Wallopers were just 20 minutes into their Friday performance at Victorious Festival in Portsmouth when microphones were cut and the band were ushered off stage.
The incident came immediately after the group held up a Palestinian flag and began chants of ‘Free Palestine.’
Footage shared online shows crowds booing as the stage fell silent.
The band later confirmed the disruption on Instagram, writing: ‘Just got cut off at Victorious Festival for having a Palestinian flag on the stage. We’ve been doing this for 6 years now and this has never happened before. Free Palestine all day every day.’
Fans quickly voiced anger on social media. One audience member posted: ‘They pulled the plug on the Mary Wallopers because they had a Palestine flag on stage. Organisers are serious cowards.’
The festival claimed they have a strict no flag policy (Picture:Mark Holloway/Redferns)
The band specified that this has never happened to them before (Picture: marywallopers)
Northern Irish rap trio Kneecap publicly backed the group, writing on X: ‘Speak up against genocide in England and you’re treated like a criminal. Up the Mary Wallopers. Free Palestine.’
The Mary Wallopers, known for their politically outspoken performances, have consistently voiced support for Palestine. Last year they headlined the Gig for Gaza fundraising concert.
Festival organisers, however, disputed the band’s account of events. In a statement to Metro, Victorious Festival said they had reminded the group of its ‘long-standing policy of not allowing flags of any kind at the event’ but emphasised that the show was not stopped at that point.
The spokesperson continued: ‘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.’
Kneecap has also faced backlash for their pro-Palestine statements (Picture: Lucy North/PA Wire)
This controversy comes after Kneecap’s Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, known by his stage name Mo Chara, was charged with an alleged terror offence in relation to the group’s pro-Palestine statements.
The rapper, 27, is one of the founding members of the West Belfast hip hop group, which has found itself in the spotlight in recent months.
In May, O’ hAnnaidh was charged over an incident at a gig in the O2, where he’s been accused of displaying a flag in support of the Lebanese Shia Islamist political party, Hezbollah, a proscribed organisation in the UK.
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