The Scout Association in the UK has cancelled a venue booking by a vegan music festival after UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) warned that bands on its line-up had promoted material alleged to be antisemitic and supportive of violence against Israelis.

The Great Vegan Gathering had hired Gilwell Park, the Scouts’ activity centre in Chingford, north-east London, as the venue for its festival from August 27 to 31.

However, the Scouts have confirmed that the event “is not now happening at Gilwell Park”. The booking was cancelled on Friday 24 July 2026 when the festival organisers were informed. 

The Great Vegan Gathering Instagram page now announces that the event has been cancelled.

The Scouts’ decision followed a letter from UKLFI raising concerns about some of the scheduled acts.

UKLFI alleged that material published or performed by the bands endorsed violence, vilified Israel and Israelis, and risked stirring up racial hatred.

Its letter placed the Scouts, operator of the proposed venue, on notice of the alleged risks. UKLFI requested that  Gilwell Park either require the festival organisers to remove the problematic acts and impose conditions on other performers, or cancel the site booking.

Particular concern was raised over a song titled Resistance Is Justified. UKLFI argued that the slogan, in the context of the Israel-Gaza conflict, was liable to be understood as endorsing violent “resistance” rather than peaceful political protest.

The song was described by the band as relating to a member of the “Filton 24”, activists accused of damaging equipment at an Elbit Systems-linked factory.

UKLFI also highlighted a song by another band titled It’s Not Anti-Semitic to Hate Fascists, which accuses Israeli forces of killing “for fun” and planting knives beside injured Palestinian teenagers.

UKLFI said that some of the bands’ lyrics went beyond criticism of Israeli policy and were capable of stirring up hatred against Israelis and Jews. They also cited social media posts describing Israeli forces as “psychopaths” and an image of a band member wearing a T-shirt bearing the words “FCK IOF” alongside an inverted red triangles.

The inverted triangle has been used in Hamas propaganda to identify Israeli personnel or vehicles being targeted.

A third band was accused of repeatedly portraying Israel as genocidal, colonialist and fascist. UKLFI cited posts claiming Israel was “wiping out Palestinians daily” and material featuring the inverted triangle symbol.

Risk to Children

The festival’s own publicity stated that it would include two children’s areas, including one beside the main arena. UKLFI said children could therefore have been within sight or hearing of the performances.

UKLFI argued that permitting the festival to hire Gilwell Park in its proposed form could have exposed the Scouts, as the property-owning charity and venue operator, to legal, safeguarding and reputational risks. It did not suggest that the Scouts had selected the performers or endorsed their views.

The Scouts originally told UKLFI that it took antisemitism “very seriously” and was liaising with the event organiser and musical acts as part of its routine event-management preparations.

However, the Scout Association is reported to have told Middle East Eye ” Following the initial confirmation of the booking, we conducted a review into some actions taken by the event organisers. The review concluded that these actions were not consistent with Scout values or our venue hire policies.

“As a result, we have informed the organisers that the event will not proceed at Gilwell Park. We remain committed to ensuring that all activity taking place at our venues reflects our values and supports an inclusive, respectful and welcoming environment for everyone.”

A spokesperson for UK Lawyers for Israel, said: “The Scouts have made the responsible decision to withdraw their property from this event.

“However, once the Scouts had been alerted to the concerns regarding the proposed performances, they were right to consider whether allowing the booking to proceed was compatible with their responsibilities as the site’s owner and as a leading youth charity.”