Bands boycott music festival after group's set 'cut off'

A string of bands have pulled out of a music festival hours before they were due to perform after Irish folk band The Mary Wallopers claimed they were "cut off" for displaying a Palestinian flag.

The Last Dinner Party, Cliffords and The Academic announced on Saturday that they would no longer be performing at Portsmouth's Victorious festival.

The organisers, who initially claimed The Mary Wallopers had their set cut on Friday for using a "discriminatory" chant, have since issued an apology to the band.

They also pledged to make "a substantial donation to humanitarian relief efforts for the Palestinian people".

Rock band The Last Dinner Party said they were boycotting the festival in a statement shared on their Instagram page.

They said they were "outraged by the decision made to silence The Mary Wallopers" and accused the organisers of "political censorship".

They apologised to their fans and expressed their support for Palestinians.

Following The Mary Wallopers' set, a spokesperson for Victorious said: "We spoke to the artist before the performance regarding the festival's long-standing policy of not allowing flags of any kind at the event, but that we respect their right to express their views during the show.

"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."

In response, The Mary Wallopers claimed the festival had 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.

Rock band The Academic have also pulled out of the festival, saying they could not "in good conscience" perform at "a festival that silences free speech", while Irish band Cliffords said they "refuse to play if we are to be censored for showing our support to the people of Palestine".

As the bands announced they would no longer perform at the festival, the organisers issued another statement on Instagram.

Describing The Mary Wallopers as "a fantastic band", they said: "We didn't handle the explanation of our policies sensitively or far enough in advance to allow a sensible conclusion to be reached.

"This put the band and our own team in a difficult situation which never should have arisen. We would like to sincerely apologise to all concerned.

"We absolutely support the right of artists to freely express their views from the stage, within the law and the inclusive nature of the event. Our policy of not allowing flags of any kind, which has been in place for many years for wider event management and safety reasons, is not meant to compromise that right.

"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."

They apologised for what had happened and pledged to make a "substantial donation" to humanitarian relief efforts.

The festival's closing day is set to be headlined by Kings of Leon, with Bloc Party, Gabrielle and The Reytons among the other acts on the line-up.