Glastonbury Festival organisers condemn Bob Vylan performance amid police probe: “We are appalled by the statements made”

Posted On June 29, 2025June 29, 2025

On Saturday, the BBC streamed a Glastonbury Festival set from punk band Bob Vylan, who led the crowd through a “death to the IDF” chant and made several more political statements. The festival has now released a statement condemning the performance.

The festival posted its reaction to social media on Sunday morning. The statement began, “Glastonbury Festival was created in 1970 as a place for people to come together and rejoice in music, the arts and the best of human endeavour. 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.”

It continued, “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, and a performer’s presence here should never be seen as a tacit endorsement of their opinions and beliefs.”

Despite this, the festival, which tagged organiser Emily Eavis as a collaborator in the post, clearly distanced itself from Bob Vylan. The statement read, “However, we are appalled by the statements made from the West Holts stage by Bob Vylan yesterday.”

It ended, “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.”

What did Bob Vylan actually say at Glastonbury?

The band, consisting of singer and guitarist Bobby Vylan and drummer Bobbie Vylan, played the slot immediately preceding Irish band Kneecap, whose performance had been conspicuously removed from BBC broadcasts. Mo Chara, a member of Kneecap, is currently on unconditional bail amid a terror charge he faced. This was a consequence of footage of a pro-Palestine display from 2024 where he can be heard shouting, “Up Hamas, up Hezbollah,” on stage.

The eponymous frontman began his long, passionate speech addressing the conflict at large. Between songs, he began, “We are seeing some fucked up things happening in the world; we are seeing the UK and the US be complicit in war crimes, in genocide happening over there to the Palestinian people. Look, I know we are on the BBC and we aren’t going to say anything crazy, we can leave that for them lads,” he said merrily, in reference to Kneecap.

Vylan added, “But unfortunately, we have seen a strange reaction to people that come out and voice support for Palestine, even though anybody wth any kind of moral compass can surely tell that what is happening over there in Gaza is a tragedy.”

He continued, “So look, we are not pacifist punks here over at Bob Vylan Enterprises,” referencing lyrics from the 2023 single, ‘Censored (Interlude)’. “We are the violent punks, because sometimes you gotta get your message across with violence because that is the only language some people speak, unfortunately.” This is the incitement to violence which Glastonbury noted in their statement.

Looking towards this next song, Vylan said, “We want to dedicate it to every single band that is using their platform to speak up for the Palestinian people and speak against the crimes that Israel, the UK, the US, and much of the Western world are complicit in. So this is for all of you: The Murder Capital, Kneecap, Amyl, and The Sniffers.”

Beyond his words, which focused on a future “where the Palestinian people are liberated and free from the tyranny of the Israeli government,” the band also had statements flash behind them during the set. One such statement read, “The United Nations have called it a genocide. The BBC calls it a conflict.”

Glastonbury Festival are not the only organisation disturbed by the show. A government spokesperson said: “We strongly condemn the threatening comments made by Bob Vylan at Glastonbury.” The Culture Secretary, Lisa Nandy, also demanded an “urgent explanation” from Tim Davie, the BBC’s Director General. Nandy also called for a Kneecap ban before their set on Saturday, agreeing with Keir Starmer’s comments that it was “not appropriate”.

Avon and Somerset Police confirmed that officers will assess video evidence of the performance. They will “determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation.” Kneecap’s later set that took aim at the Prime Minister is also being investigated.

Friday night at Glastonbury saw The 1975 headline the Pyramid Stage and Loyle Carner headline the Other Stage. On Saturday night, Charli XCX, Neil Young, Scissor Sisters and Doechii headlined each of the main stages. On Sunday, Olivia Rodrigo will close the weekend.

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