Regan Taco, founder of the new UK music festival Origin, has confirmed that Israeli artists are not barred from performing at the event, following concerns raised by UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) and others.

UKLFI contacted Mr Taco after a WhatsApp message—circulated informally—appeared to show him saying that the festival would not book Israeli acts because he did not support the actions of the Israeli government. UKLFI advised that excluding performers on the basis of nationality would be discriminatory and unlawful under the Equality Act 2010.

In his response to UKLFI, Mr Taco firmly denied that Origin Festival had adopted or communicated any such policy:

“I can assure you that I have not made any verbal or written statements preventing Israeli artists from attending our event, nor was there any communication to this effect from any official event channels.”

He added that Origin is a non-political organisation committed to “harmony and peace through dance,” and stressed that its limited budget means most performers are UK-based:

“We have no intention of preventing anyone from attending our event or not providing services based on their nationality. We will never ban anyone because of their race, nationality or religion.”

Mr Taco also confirmed that he had “looked into the matter and taken action to prevent anything like this from happening in the future.”

A spokesperson for UKLFI welcomed the clarification:

“We are pleased that Origin Festival has confirmed it does not and will not discriminate against Israeli artists. Ensuring compliance with equality law is essential, and we appreciate Mr Taco’s steps to correct the misunderstanding and to uphold a policy of equal treatment.”