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Victorious Festival 2025 was held at Southsea, Portsmouth, UK, from August 22, 2025, to August 24, 2025. During the festival's first day, the Irish band The Mary Wallopers were cut off for displaying a Palestinian flag and chanting 'Free Palestine' just after their set started.
The cut-off of The Mary Wallopers has triggered backlash from other artists, including Vampire Weekend, who used their set at the festival on August 23, 2025, to slam the organizers for cutting off The Mary Wallopers.
"If someone was punished for flying a flag, that is wrong and they deserve an apology. The terrible suffering of the Palestinian people deserves all of our sympathy."
The statement received huge support from the crowd, as per Portsmouth News, which reported on the event on August 23, 2025.
More on The Mary Wallopers being cut off at Victorious Festival
Initially, Victorious Festival released a statement, claiming that the band itself had chosen to cut off their set:
"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 festival continued in its statement:
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."
However, The Mary Wallopers subsequently released a statement and the video contradicting the festival and revealing what actually took place:
"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 -"
The statement by the band continues:
"-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."
Alongside Vampire Weekend, other bands supported The Mary Wallopers after they were cut off by Victorious Festival. The Last Dinner Party, Cliffords, and The Academic pulled out of the festival, while Kneecap posted a statement on their X page in support of the festival.
After the band posted their statement and the backlash subsequent to the cut-off against the festival, Victorious Festival released a statement apologizing to the band and promising to provide a donation towards humanitarian relief for the Palestinian people.
Victorious Festival is one of the many festivals owned by Superstruct Entertainment, which in turn is owned by KKR, a global investment firm with deep ties to Israel.
The investment firm has been noted for posting advertisements for illegal real estate in occupied Palestinian territories and illegal Israeli settlements, as well as making investments in data centres and other industries with potential military applications.
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The Victorious Festival incident surrounding The Mary Wallopers is not the first time Superstruct Entertainment and KKR have been under fire over the ongoing Palestine issue.
Brian Eno and Massive Attack’s Robert Del Naja led an open letter urging Field Day to distance itself from Superstruct Entertainment. Field Day, Tramlines, Boiler Room, and Mighty Hoopla have all issued statements making clear their opposition to KKR and their ownership of Superstruct Entertainment.
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