This year’s Glastonbury, Britain’s biggest summer music festival which draws some 200,000 music fans each year to Worthy Farm in southwest England, has come to an end. And it’s been one of the most controversial editions in recent memory.
Controversial Belfast rappers Kneecap and their weekend slot made headlines in the lead-up to the festival, after several MPs, including Prime Minister Keir Starmer, called on Glastonbury to pull the band from the line-up, due to their defiant pro-Palestinian remarks and band member Mo Chara being charged with a terror offence.
Still, the band played and were supported by Glastonbury co-organiser Emily Eavis, who said that “everyone is welcome.”
Her father, festival founder Michael Eavis, added: “People that don’t agree with the politics of the event can go somewhere else!”
Still, controversy was inevitable…
Kneecap cause a ruckus
As predicted, Kneecap delivered an incendiary set at Glastonbury, on the West Holts stage, to a huge crowd waving countless Palestinian flags.
The BBC, the festival’s broadcaster partner, said in a statement just hours before the band took to the stage that their set wouldn’t be streamed live and would instead be made available as an on-demand version after the end of the gig.
Previously, Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said she thought the BBC “should not be showing” Kneecap’s performance at the festival: “The BBC should not be showing Kneecap propaganda. One Kneecap band member is currently on bail, charged under the Terrorism Act. As a publicly funded platform, the BBC should not be rewarding extremism.
The trio, DJ Próvaí, Mo Chara and Móglaí Bap, came on stage with screens showing their usual message: “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people, aided by the UK government. Free Palestine.” This message was galvanized during the set when the band said: “There’s no f*cking hiding it, Israel are war criminals.”
“Glastonbury, I’m a free man,” also declared Chara, referring to being given unconditional bail from his appearance on his terror charge.
“Mo Chara was in court this month,” said Bap. “Was anyone there? Mo Chara’s in court for a trumped up terrorism charge. It’s not the first time there was a miscarriage of justice for an Irish person in the British justice system”.
Chara then mentioned Keir Starmer – who argued that it was “not appropriate” for the band to be playing at Glastonbury: “The Prime Minister of your country said he didn’t want us to play, so f*ck Keir Starmer.”
They echoed this sentiment when introducing their fan favourite song ‘Get Your Brits Out’, with Chara telling the crowd: “We f*cking love the English people, it’s the English government we can’t stand. F*ck Keir Starmer.”
The band ended their set by thanking Glastonbury festival for their support of the band and for Palestine, with Bap stating: “One day it will be controversial for the people that didn’t speak about Palestine,” with Chara agreeing: “Remember those c*nts, we will remember them.”
However, their set was not the only controversial moment of this year’s highly politicised edition… In fact, their lightning may have been stolen by an earlier act.
Bob Vylan: Controversy before Kneecap’s set
Before the Kneecap set, rap-punk duo Bob Vylan also caused controversy by leading the crowd in chants of: “Free, free Palestine” and “Death, death to the IDF (Israel Defence Forces).”
The BBC said it issued a warning on screen about “very strong and discriminatory language” during the live stream.
Still, that wasn’t the end of it.
The Israeli Embassy to the UK said on social media that it was “deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage at the Glastonbury Festival,” while the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) said it will be formally complaining to the BBC over its “outrageous decision” to broadcast the performance.
In a statement, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “There is no excuse for this kind of appalling hate speech.” The Prime Minister also reiterated his previous argument that Kneecap should have been removed from the line-up: “I said that Kneecap should not be given a platform and that goes for any other performers making threats or inciting violence. The BBC needs to explain how these scenes came to be broadcast.”
Even Emily Eavis posted a response to Bob Vylan’s performance.
“Their chants very much crossed a line and we are urgently reminding everyone involved in the production of the Festival that there is no place at Glastonbury for antisemitism, hate speech or incitement to violence,” she wrote.
She added that while “as a festival, we stand against all forms of war and terrorism – we will always believe in – and actively campaign for – hope, unity, peace and love”, adding a performer’s comments “should never be seen as a tacit endorsement of their opinions and beliefs”.
Eavis added: “With almost 4,000 performances at Glastonbury 2025, there will inevitably be artists and speakers appearing on our stages whose views we do not share.”
British Police said that they were assessing footage of the performance to decide whether any offences may have been committed.
Who are Bob Vylan?
Bob Vylan are a punk-rap duo known for their politically charged lyrics which tackle racism, homophobia, police brutality and far-right politics.
The two members keep their real names secret and are known as Bobby Vylan and Bobbie Vylan.
Formed in Ipswich in 2017, the band has released five albums – ‘Vylan’ (2017), ‘Dread’ (2019), ‘We Live Here’ (2020), ‘Bob Vylan Presents The Price Of Life’ (2022), and last year’s ‘Humble As The Sun’.
They have won several awards, including Best Alternative Act at the MOBOs in 2022.
Like Kneecap, the duo has been outspoken on the war in Gaza.
A UN report has found that Israel’s military actions are consistent with genocide, and at least 56,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Israel has continually denied that their actions in Palestine can be equated to genocide and argued that it has not partaken in any war crimes.
