Organisers of the festival initially claimed that the band’s set was cut short for using a chant “widely understood to have a discriminatory context”. The Mary Wallopers denied the claim, asked for the festival to retract its “misleading” statement and shared footage of the moment on Instagram.

The Mary Wallopers had their set at Victorious Festival cut short after the Irish folk band displayed a Palestinian flag and chanted "Free Palestine". Festival organisers initially claimed the band used a "discriminatory chant" but later issued a second statement apologising for mishandling the situation.

A string of bands have pulled out of a UK music festival hours before they were due to perform after Irish band The Mary Wallopers said they were “cut off” for displaying a Palestinian flag.