Silenced band rejects reasons given by festival

One Victorious Festival attendee called it an "absolute disgrace"

A band which was silenced during their opening song at a music festival has "rejected" the reason given by organisers, calling it "misleading".

Irish folk group The Mary Wallopers were performing at Portsmouth's Victorious Festival on Friday when their show was halted after they unfurled a Palestinian flag on stage and called for a "free Palestine".

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.

In a response on Instagram, the band uploaded a video of the incident, alongside a statement requesting that the festival "retract their statement immediately".

In its post, the band said: "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'."

They added: "The same crew member is later heard in the video saying, 'you aren't playing until the flag is removed',."

The band had previously stated that the call for a "free Palestine" was something they had been doing regularly for six years.

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

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.

'Long-standing policy'

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.

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.