The organisers of Victorious Festival declined to answer our questions on the matter.

Over the weekend, The Mary Wallopers were set to play Victorious Festival in Portsmouth. However, they were abruptly cut off before finishing their first song. In a post shared after their performance, the Dundalk band claimed they were kicked off stage for displaying a Palestinian flag, something they say they’ve done for years without issue. A video shared by the band very clearly supports this claim, showing a member of security telling the band to take the flag down, after the band refused, the sound was cut.

But festival organisers have painted a different picture. In a statement via the Daily Mail, a spokesperson said that while a no-flags policy had been communicated to the band in advance, that wasn’t why their set was cut short. According to them, the decision came after the band used a chant “widely understood to have a discriminatory context.” “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.”

They added, “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. To be clear, we respect the right of artists to use their platform to express their views within the inclusive nature of the event and it was not the band’s call to ‘Free Palestine’ which resulted in this outcome.”

This statement has, understandably, been rejected by the Mary Wallopers. “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”. We completely reject Victorious’ portrayal of today’s events and request that they retract their statement immediately.

District contacted the festival’s press team seeking direct clarification: what chant, exactly, was considered discriminatory? What is the rationale behind the “no flags” policy, and how is it enforced across different acts? And how does the festival justify silencing a band for expressing a political view rooted in solidarity and resistance, especially while claiming a commitment to inclusivity? The festival declined to comment.

In the absence of transparency, The Mary Wallopers’ account carries even more weight. While Victorious Festival ties itself in knots over a flag and an unquoted chant, famine has been declared in Gaza thousands continue to be killed by Israel’s bombardment, displacement, and starvation.

Victorious Festival is also part of a growing number of European music events owned by Superstruct Entertainment, which was recently acquired by KKR. KKR has come under fire for its financial ties to several Israeli companies, including those linked to surveillance tech and infrastructure in illegal settlements. These links have sparked calls to boycott festivals under the Superstruct umbrella. While Victorious itself hasn’t publicly addressed these connections, the controversy has raised real questions about who owns our cultural spaces, and what values they actually stand for.

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