The Last Dinner Party have withdrawn from their scheduled performance at Victorious Festival in Portsmouth following the controversial censorship of Irish band the Mary Wallopers during their Friday set.

The London-based indie rock outfit announced their boycott through a strongly-worded Instagram statement, declaring their refusal to participate in what they termed “political censorship” after festival organisers cut short The Mary Wallopers’ performance.The Last Dinner Party have withdrawn from their scheduled performance at Victorious Festival in Portsmouth following the controversial censorship of Irish band the Mary Wallopers during their Friday set.

The London-based indie rock outfit announced their boycott through a strongly-worded Instagram statement, declaring their refusal to participate in what they termed “political censorship” after festival organisers cut short The Mary Wallopers’ performance.

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The incident unfolded when The Mary Wallopers took to the stage with a Palestinian flag and opened their set with calls to “Free Palestine”. Footage shared by the folk outfit shows a Victorious crew member approaching the stage, removing the Palestinian flag, and subsequently cutting the band’s sound system when they continued their pro-Palestine chants.

“Free, free Palestine,” the band declared from the stage, with many audience members joining in before the sound was abruptly terminated. The crowd responded with boos as the performance was halted, though cheers erupted when the band retrieved and displayed the flag once more.

Festival organisers defended their actions through a spokesperson who told the BBC that the show ended after the band used “a chant which is widely understood to have a discriminatory context,” though they declined to provide specific details about what constituted the discriminatory language.

The Mary Wallopers, who are scheduled to tour Australia next month, strongly contested this characterisation, demanding the festival retract their statement immediately. In their social media response, they wrote: “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.”

The band’s video documentation shows the crew member stating “you aren’t playing until the flag is removed,” contradicting the festival’s public explanation for the sound cut.

The Last Dinner Party concluded their statement by encouraging fans to donate to medical aid organisations supporting Palestinians, signing off with “Free Palestine” in a direct show of solidarity with the censored Irish band.