Festival mutes band after call for 'free Palestine'

One Victorious Festival attendee called it an "absolute disgrace"

A music festival's organisers pulled the plug on a band during their opening song after they unfurled a Palestinian flag on stage and called for a "free Palestine".

Irish folk group The Mary Wallopers were performing at Portsmouth's Victorious Festival on Friday when their show was abruptly halted.

Afterwards one member of the crowd called the intervention an "absolute disgrace" and another said: "Everyone is entitled to free speech."

A festival spokesperson said the show was ended after the band used "a chant which is widely understood to have a discriminatory context", but did not confirm what that was.

Following their brief stage appearance, the band posted on Instagram: "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."

Earlier this year, rap group Bob Vylan sparked controversy when they led chants of "free, free Palestine" and "death to the IDF [Israel Defense Forces]" at Glastonbury Festival.

Irish-language rap band Kneecap were subject to a police investigation, later dropped, over their pro-Palestinian stance at Glastonbury.

The band said they had been "doing this for 6 years now and this has never happened before"

One attendee, Aidan, posted on Facebook: "Victorious Festival have just cut the Mary Wallopers after 10 seconds of the first song for flying the Palestinian flag."

Northern Exposure Magazine said after the band's mics were cut the crowd chanted "let them play".

"You can censor the sound, but you can't mute the message," they added.

Another festivalgoer, emilyjyp, posted: "It was clear the audience is on their side. Bad call."

A Victorious spokesperson said although the festival had warned Mary Wallopers about the event's "long-standing policy" of not allowing flags on stage, that was not why the band's set was ended.

"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," they said.

"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 Victorious Festival, which began in 2013, is a three-day event that runs between Friday and Sunday, with up to 80,000 ticketholders expected to attend each day.

Last year it was named Major Festival of the Year in the UK Live Awards.