“There’s no good answer. Because the pain is real – on both sides”

The planned performance of the Northern Irish rap trio Kneecap at our festival has stirred up a storm in recent weeks – not because of their music, but because of the question of whether we would allow them to perform or not.

That decision has now been taken away from us by the government announcing that they have banned the group from entering Hungary.

This time, public discourse was not about the band’s original agenda, which addresses Irish-British historical tensions, but the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

It is becoming increasingly clear that there is no good answer to this question – and perhaps that is the most honest admission we can make.

Although Kneecap already performed at Sziget without incident in 2022, they gained global prominence this…

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