Both Eden Sessions (at the Eden Project) in Cornwall and Plymouth Pavillions in Devon have cancelled shows by the Northern Irish group Kneecap, that were due to take place this summer. This follows letters from UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) pointing out a long list of offensive and arguably illegal incidents involving the band.

Kneecap has already been stopped from performing in Germany at the Hurricane and Southside festivals this year.

UKLFI has also written to all the venues and festivals due to be hosting Kneecap this summer, pointing out the band’s history of abusive and unlawful behaviour and the legal issues that the venue may face if it hosts the band.  These include Glastonbury,  the Green Man in Wales, 2000 Trees, TRNSMT in Scotland, Finsbury Park, Wythenshawe Park and Wide Awake Festival.

There has also been general outrage about Kneecap’s behaviour, culminating in Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch demanding that the trio be prosecuted for allegedly calling for the death of Tory MPs, during a concert in 2023. Peter Kyle, the Science Secretary, and many others have suggested that Kneecap should be removed from the Glastonbury line-up. The First Minister of Scotland, John Swinney, has been reported as saying that he backed calls for Kneecap to be axed from Glasgow’s TRNSMT music festival this summer.

• Kneecap posted on X on 8 October 2023, just one day after the horrendous massacre of Israelis the previous day: “Solidarity with the Palestinian struggle”, along with a photo of the band, standing under a Palestinian flag.
• Kneecap performed at the 02 Forum in Kentish Town on 21 November 2024, where a band member waved what appeared to be a Hezbollah flag and wrapped it around himself onstage. One of the group also seemingly shouted “up Hamas, up Hezbollah” and the band was reported to have led the fans in a chant of ‘Ooh-aah Hezbollah’.”
• When Kneecap played at the Coachella festival in the USA on 18 April 2025, they were reported to have whipped up anti-Israel hatred amongst the crowd. They showed large screens on stage, with the slogans “f*** Israel, free Palestine” and “free free Palestine”, and led the audience in anti-Israel chants.

A spokesperson for UKLFI commented: “It is not acceptable to parade the support of evil, genocidal groups as terrorist chic in an effort to appear radical onstage.  Nor is it legal in the United Kingdom.  

It is particularly egregious to glorify terrorists at music festivals, given that innocent young people at the Nova festival in Israel were slaughtered by these very terrorist groups. We are pleased that having been alerted to this issue, concert venues are taking action against the risk of this happening again.”

UKLFI reported Kneecap to the counter terror police a month ago regarding their apparent support for Hamas and Hezbollah, and the police recently launched an investigation into the group.