Glastonbury Festival has released a statement following backlash surrounding London-based duo Bob Vylan's anti-Israel chants during their performance yesterday afternoon.
During their set, they led the crowd in chants of “Free, free Palestine” and “Death, death to the IDF,” with frontman Bobby Vylan concluding: “From the river to the sea Palestine must be, will be, free.”
The punk duo displayed messages reading: “Free Palestine. United Nations have called it a genocide. The BBC calls it a ‘conflict’.”
Opening the set, Bobby Vylan said: “We are not pacifist punks here over at Bob Vylan Enterprises. We are the violent punks, because sometimes, you have to get your message across with violence because that is the only language some people speak.”
He added that the UK and US were “complicit in war crimes and genocide happening over there to the Palestinian people.”
In an Instagram post shared on Sunday morning, the official Glastonbury account, along with co-organiser Emily Eavis, shared a statement reading: "Glastonbury Festival was created in 1970 as a place for people to come together and rejoice in music, the arts and the best of human endeavour.
"As a festival, we stand against all forms of war and terrorism. We will always believe in – and actively campaign for – hope, unity, peace and love.
"With almost 4,000 performances at Glastonbury 2025, there will inevitably be artists and speakers appearing on our stages whose views we do not share, and a performer’s presence here should never be seen as a tacit endorsement of their opinions and beliefs.
"However, we are appalled by the statements made from the West Holts stage by Bob Vylan yesterday.
"Their chants very much crossed a line and we are urgently reminding everyone involved in the production of the Festival that there is no place at Glastonbury for antisemitism, hate speech or incitement to violence."
Following the performance, Avon and Somerset Police confirmed they were reviewing video footage to assess whether any criminal offences were committedGETTYFollowing yesterday's performance, Avon and Somerset Police confirmed they were reviewing video footage to assess whether any criminal offences were committed.
"We are aware of the comments made by acts on the West Holts Stage at Glastonbury Festival this afternoon," the force said in a statement.
"Video evidence will be assessed by officers to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation."
The Government also issued a response, condemning the duo’s language.
A spokesman said: "We strongly condemn the threatening comments made by Bob Vylan at Glastonbury.
Opening the set, Bobby Vylan said: 'We are not pacifist punks here over at Bob Vylan Enterprises. We are the violent punks'
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"The Culture Secretary has spoken to the BBC Director General to seek an urgent explanation about what due diligence it carried out ahead of the Bob Vylan performance, and welcomes the decision not to re-broadcast it on BBC iPlayer."
The BBC, which streamed the set live, also addressed viewer complaints, with a spokesman saying: "Some of the comments made during Bob Vylan’s set were deeply offensive.
"During this live stream on iPlayer, which reflected what was happening on stage, a warning was issued on screen about the very strong and discriminatory language. We have no plans to make the performance available on demand."
In response to the backlash, Vylan took to his Instagram account last night to share a photo of himself eating pink vegan ice cream, captioned: "While Zionists are crying on socials, I’ve just had late-night (vegan) ice cream."
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