\n\tThe Last Dinner Party<\/a> withdrew from their scheduled performance at Victorious Festival<\/a> on Saturday (Aug. 23) in protest of an incident involving fellow band the Mary Wallopers, whose set was cut short after they showed support for Palestine.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tExplore\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n <\/p>\n \t<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n See latest videos, charts and news<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \n\tThe British indie rock-pop group announced their decision on social media Saturday morning, referencing the previous day\u2019s events in which the Mary Wallopers displayed a Palestinian flag on stage and called for a \u201cFree Palestine.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWe are outraged by the decision made to silence the Mary Wallopers yesterday at Victorious,\u201d the Last Dinner Party wrote on Instagram<\/a>. \u201cAs a band we cannot cosign political censorship and will therefore be boycotting the festival today.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThey continued, \u201cAs 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.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe Last Dinner Party also encouraged fans to donate to medical aid for Palestinians and closed their message with \u201cFree Palestine.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tOn Friday (Aug. 22), members of the Mary Wallopers took the stage at Victorious Festival carrying a Palestinian flag and voiced the message, \u201cFree Palestine and f\u2014k Israel.\u201d Their sound was cut off after a crew member removed the flag, prompting the band to lead a chant of \u201cFree Palestine\u201d and encourage festival-goers to leave.<\/p>\n \n\tThe incident was documented in a video<\/a> posted on the Mary Wallopers\u2019 Instagram.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWe are uploading this video so everybody can see @victoriousfestival cut our gig short for having a Palestinian flag on stage,\u201d the Irish band captioned the post. \u201cThe festival have released a misleading statement to the press claiming they cut our sound because of a discriminatory chant and not the band\u2019s 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 \u2018Free Palestine.\u2019 The same crew member is later heard in the video saying \u2018you aren\u2019t playing until the flag is removed.’\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tOn Saturday, Victorious Festival organizers addressed the incident in a statement<\/a> on their Facebook page.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWe are in the business of putting on great shows, not cutting them off and this is the last thing we wanted, for the band, their fans and ourselves,\u201d the statement read. \u201cWe didn\u2019t handle the explanation of our policy 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.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe organizers added, \u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe statement concluded, \u201cWe accept that, although mics remained live for longer, sound for The Mary Wallopwers\u2019 audience was cut as described in the band\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tSeveral other acts, including The Academic<\/a> and Cliffords<\/a>, have also announced they will be boycotting this year\u2019s Victorious Festival.<\/p>\n \n\tThe 2025 edition of Victorious launched on Friday and runs through Sunday (Aug. 24), with headliners including Queens of the Stone Age, Vampire Weekend and Kings of Leon.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/p><\/div>\n