The Last Dinner Party boycott Victorious Festival in solidarity with The Mary Wallopers

The Last Dinner Party have pulled out of Victorious Festival hours before their set after The Mary Wallopers' set was cut short due to their pro-Palestine message. On August 22, Irish band The Mary Wallopers' set was stopped only a few moments into their first song after there a dispute over their displaying the Palestinian flag on stage.

In a statement, they wrote: "Yesterday, a famine was declared in Gaza, where at least 65 people were killed by Israeli attacks, all the while Israel pushed ahead with plans to split the West Bank in two. These are the important facts about yesterday. We are uploading this video so everybody can see @victoriousfestival cut our gig short for having a Palestinian flag on stage.

"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”. The same crew member is later heard in the video saying “you aren’t playing until the flag is removed”.

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"We completely reject Victorious’ portrayal of today’s events and request that they retract their statement immediately. We know this is getting some attention and we don’t want another distraction which takes attention away from the genocide that is happening in Palestine. FREE PALESTINE."

Their post was in response to the festival's initial statement, which the band called "misleading". The festival wrote that it was the "artist's decision to stop the song", claiming the sound was only cut "after the band used a chant which is widely understood to have a discriminatory context." The festival also claimed the band had warning of their no-flags policy.

In a newer post, Victorious said they 'didn't handle the explanation of our policies sensitively or far enough in advance to allow a sensible conclusion to be reached' before they apologised to everyone concerned.

They added: "We accept that, although mics remained live for longer, sound for The Mary Wallopers' audience was cut as described in the band's video, and that comments after that were not audible to the public. We are sorry that this situation has come about and will be making a substantial donation to humanitarian relief efforts for the Palestinian people."

In solidarity with The Mary Wallopers, The Last Dinner Party announced they were 'boycotting' the festival as they pulled out of their performance. They hit out at the festival's "political censorship" as they added: "As Gazans are deliberately plunged into catastrophic famine after two years of escalating violence, it is urgent and obvious that artists use their platform to draw attention to the cause.

"To see an attempt to direct attention away from the genocide in order to maintain an apolitical image is immensely disappointing.”

The Brit Award-winning band said they've used their concerts to urge their fans to donate "even a drink's worth of money to Medical Aid for Palestinians, and today we urge you more than ever to do the same."

In response to The Last Dinner Party pulling out, the festival said they 'regret not being able to reach a positive conclusion with them', adding they 'respect their decision and their ongoing support for Palestinian humanitarian causes'. They also shared a donation link to Medical Aid for Palestinians.

Meanwhile, Getdown Services said that considered pulling out of the festival, but have decided to play and donate their entire fee to War Child, before deeming the festival "spineless, pathetic idiots."

Another band, Cliffords, also pulled out of the festival as they shared a statement on social media. Along with a picture of them holding up a Palestinian flag, they wrote: "Following the ongoing genocide and in light of the recent declaration of famine, we refuse to play if we are to be censored for showing our support to the people of Palestine. We were not made aware of a “no flag” policy when we agreed to play Victorious, and while we understand their predicament, we have no intention of playing if this is how artists are treated for speaking out against genocide."

The Academic have also withdrawn from Victorious, writing on social media: "We’ve taken the decision to pull out of Victorious Festival. We can’t in good conscience stand up and play at a festival that silences free speech and the right to express your views. We stand in solidarity with the other Irish acts here this weekend. FREE PALESTINE."

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