Irish band silenced at UK festival for holding Palestinian flag
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Irish folk group The Mary Wallopers were silenced at Victorious Festival after displaying a Palestinian flag and chanting “Free Palestine.” The band rejected the organizers’ explanation, calling it misleading and a form of censorship.
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Irish band the Mary Wallopers holding a Palestinian flag during Portsmouth's Victorious Festival on August 22, 2025. (Social media)
Irish folk band The Mary Wallopers had their performance cut short at Portsmouth’s Victorious Festival on Friday after unfurling a Palestinian flag and calling for a “free Palestine” during their opening song.
Festival organizers claimed the decision was linked to “a chant which is widely understood to have a discriminatory context,” but did not specify what chant they were referring to.
Band rejects festival’s explanation
In a statement shared on Instagram, the band accused the festival of releasing a “misleading” explanation. They uploaded video footage of the incident, showing a crew member entering the stage, removing the Palestinian flag, and then cutting the sound immediately after the chant “Free Palestine.”
“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,” the group said. “Our video clearly shows… the sound being cut following a chant of ‘Free Palestine’.”
They added that the same crew member was later recorded saying: “You aren’t playing until the flag is removed.”
Crowd reaction and band’s history
Northern Exposure Magazine reported that after the microphones were cut, the audience began chanting “let them play.”
“You can censor the sound, but you can’t mute the message,” the band wrote in their post.
The Mary Wallopers also stressed that they have included the “Free Palestine” call in their shows for the past six years without incident.
Festival defends decision
A spokesperson for Victorious Festival insisted the action was not due to the flag or the band’s pro-Palestinian stance, but rather a violation of policy.
“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,” the spokesperson said.
“To be clear, we respect the right of artists to use their platform to express their views… and it was not the band's call to ‘Free Palestine’ which resulted in this outcome.”
The festival also noted its “long-standing policy” against flags on stage but said that was not the reason behind ending the performance.
In a statement on Instagram, The Last Dinner Party, a rock band. expressed outrage at the silencing, stressing that they cannot support political censorship and the need for artists to use their platforms to draw attention to the genocide in Gaza. The band urged its fans to donate to support the Palestinian cause.
The Victorious Festival, which began in 2013, takes place over 3 days from Friday to Sunday and is expected to be attended by up to 80,000 participants daily.
The incident adds to ongoing controversies surrounding artists expressing solidarity with Palestine at UK music festivals. Earlier this year, rap group Bob Vylan drew attention at Glastonbury Festival by chanting “free, free Palestine” and “death to the IDF [Israeli Defense Forces],” while Irish-language rap group Kneecap faced — and later cleared — a police investigation over their pro-Palestinian stance at the same event.
