Festival Republic boss Melvin Benn has reassured fans Kneecap won’t be censored at their upcoming Electric Picnic slot.
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The Irish language trio have come under intense scrutiny for their critiques of Israel and vocal support of Palestine, and are set to perform this Saturday (August 30) at Electric Picnic in Co Laois.
Speaking ahead of their slot at Ireland’s largest music event, Benn said promoters behind Electric Picnic felt that adding Kneecap to the line-up was “really important” (via Belfast Live).
“Musically, you know [they are] fantastic, but in terms of what’s going on in the world, it’s really important that they are here, adding their voice. I will hasten to remind people that they headlined the Hazelwood stage in 2018, so we’ve had a long history with Kneecap.”
When asked whether the festival had a policy in place for handling Kneecap’s performance, he insisted: “No, mics won’t be switched off.”
His comments come in light of the BBC making a U-turn on their decision to show the band’s incendiary set at Glastonbury live. That gig, which was available to stream after they performed, saw the band hit out Prime Minister Keir Starmer – who argued that it was “not appropriate” for the them to be appearing at the festival.
“The Prime Minister of your country said he didn’t want us to play, so fuck Keir Starmer,” Mo Chara said. Additionally, Kneecap played a new track and reaffirmed their solidarity with Palestine and the activist group Palestine Action – now a proscribed terrorist group under UK law.
Benn added that Kneecap were “great lads, they’ve got really important songs, they’re brilliant live, but they’ve also got really important messages”.
He continued: “They didn’t do anything wrong at Glastonbury, it’s yet to be proven whether they have done anything wrong anywhere else in the world. So, you know, they are on home territory here and I think they will be really relaxed and the crowd will be really appreciative of it.”
Benn was also asked about a recent incident that saw Irish The Mary Wallopers have their sound cut by Portsmouth’s Victorious festival organisers and the Palestinian flag they had on stage taken away, a decision that was met with furious responses from both the band themselves and many of the other artists on the bill.
Several acts, including The Last Dinner Party, The Academic, Cliffords and Esme Emerson, decided to boycott the festival as a result.
Benn described the incident as “shocking”, and said he was “glad that artists ended up withdrawing as a result of it,” adding that “it definitely won’t be my policy”.
Even more recently, Reading Festival – an event Benn also runs – took place over this past weekend and saw several artists call for a free Palestine, with Hozier using his headline set to defend Kneecap, saying: “Irish musicians rapping or supporting the people of Palestine is not an act of terrorism.”
Fans went on to criticise the fact that his performance was not livestreamed on BBC iPlayer.
Benn’s comments in defence of Kneecap come shortly after the band cancelled their sold-out 2025 US headline tour earlier this week, news that came shortly after Mo Chara’s terrorism case was adjourned until next month at his second court hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London last Wednesday (August 20).
Gigs had been scheduled in New York, Nashville, Washington D.C., Boston, Chicago and other cities across the US throughout October. Chara (real name Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh) first appeared in court in June, when he was released on unconditional bail.
The terrorism charges were levelled against him in May for allegedly displaying a Hezbollah flag on stage at a London show last November. The rapper is yet to enter a plea, but has denied any wrongdoing.
His lawyers are seeking to throw out the case, arguing that the terror charge against him was brought outside the time limit. They claim that it was brought a day after the six-month limit for such charges.
However, prosecutors say the charge was brought exactly within the required time limit.
Responding to the terror charge in May, Kneecap denied the offence and vowed to “vehemently defend ourselves”. “This is political policing,” they wrote. “This is a carnival of distraction. We are not the story. Genocide is.”
Kneecap have since returned to the stage for a defiant set at Rock en Seine, where pro-Israel protestors attempted to disrupt their performance.
Earlier this month, the trio led chants of “fuck KKR” at Øya Festival 2025 before condemning the “hate-filled” Hungarian Prime Minister in a video broadcast at Sziget in Budapest.
