I’ll be watching Kneecap’s 4pm prime time Glastonbury set – they deserve to be t

Like 209,999 different folks, I’m at Glastonbury Competition this weekend.

The truth is, it’s my twentieth go to to Worthy Farm.

Amongst my bucket hats and raincoat – which I’m hoping I gained’t want – I’ve packed my Palestine T-shirt and flag.

I’ll be proudly carrying and waving them after I go to see Irish rappers Kneecap.

What time are Kneecap taking part in Glastonbury at present?

Kneecap are taking part in the West Holts stage at 4pm at present – Saturday June 28, 2025. Their set will final for an hour, ending at 5pm and might be watched dwell or streamed on the BBC

I’ll be there, irrespective of how a lot it would annoy Keir Starmer and different politicians who suppose their look on the pageant is ‘not applicable’.

For individuals who missed the controversy, it began when Kneecap made professional-Palestine statements at Coachella in April this yr. Critics like Sharon Osbourne decried Kneecap’s set as ‘selling terrorist organizations or spreading hate’.

Across the identical time, resurfaced footage of a 2024 Kneecap gig in London brought on controversy – with band member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh presently on bail following a court docket look when he was charged with a terror offence for allegedly displaying a flag in help of Hezbollah. 

Sustain to date with Metro’s Glastonbury dwell weblog right here

So when Keir Starmer was requested just lately if he thought Kneecap ought to nonetheless play Glastonbury, he responded: ‘I don’t suppose that’s applicable’. 

Because the band themselves put it on X: ‘You understand what’s “not applicable” Keir?! Arming a genocide…’

I couldn’t agree extra. 

So I’ll be waving my Palestine flag at a lot of the gigs that I catch over the weekend, identical to I and lots of of others did finally yr’s Glastonbury.

At its coronary heart, Glastonbury is political. For the Prime Minister, who ought to have sufficient on his plate, to attempt to say that any band performing is ‘not applicable’, it’s laughable.

Yearly, pageant goers put on T-shirts and wave flags highlighting points they really feel strongly about, together with racism, trans rights, local weather justice, girls’s reproductive rights, and protected routes for immigrants. 

And this yr, I think about many extra, within the crowds and on the stage, will name out the actions of controversial political figures, similar to Donald Trump and Elon Musk.  

Freedom of speech and discussing social and political points is a big a part of the pageant, which hosts numerous talks throughout the location.

Visitor audio system this yr embrace outspoken TV pundit Gary Lineker, Zarah Sultana MP, drag queen and mannequin Bimini Bon Boulash, creator and activist Reni Eddo-Lodge, political commentator Danny Worth, quick style activist Venetia La Manna, political satirist and comic Munya Chawawa, political journalist Ash Sarkar, and Palestine and Local weather direct motion group Youth Demand – to identify only a few.  

In my 20 years of attending, I’ve by no means felt just like the political content material was ‘not applicable.’ 

The truth is, since 1992, the pageant has partnered with Greenpeace and the organisation’s message on the pageant this yr is to spotlight the ‘democratic proper to protest and to name out the massive polluters to cease drilling and begin paying’. 

With politicians making an attempt to dictate which bands ought to play, that first level particularly appears well timed. 

Glastonbury and the correct to voice your political opinions go hand in hand – and have carried out for the reason that pageant’s inception in 1970, the place there was a big ‘anti-Vietnam Warfare’ crowd, at what was then the Pilton Pop, Blues & Folks Competition.

In 1981, the pageant donated earnings to the Marketing campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND). Whereas in 1984, the pageant launched the Inexperienced Fields – devoted to environmental and social points.  

The pageant has been a part of the ‘Make Poverty Historical past’ marketing campaign, the ‘I Rely marketing campaign’ – which highlighted the necessity to handle local weather change – and in addition the ‘White Ribbon Alliance’s Million Mums’ marketing campaign – geared toward ending the pointless deaths of girls in childbirth. 

It’s a giant a part of the pageant, and a giant a part of the enchantment for me. 

In 2016, Blur frontman, Damon Albarn, claimed that ‘democracy has failed us’ after the Brexit outcomes. He additionally made a shock look finally yr’s pageant, expressing his help for Palestine and in addition speaking concerning the upcoming US elections.

On high of that, the primary Pyramid stage has seen highly effective political speeches and performances from everybody from Jeremy Corbyn to David Attenborough and Stormzy to Kendrick Lamar.