news 
“It was horrific”: Radar Festival speaks out on Bob Vylan cancellation
Manchester’s Radar Festival has spoken out about the cancellation of punk-rap duo Bob Vylan from its 2025 lineup. In a new interview, organizer Catherine Jackson-Smith described the conversation that led to the decision as “horrific” and emphasized that the festival did not want to cancel the band.
“I cannot express clearly enough that I wanted Bob Vylan to perform at our festival,” Jackson-Smith shared with Two Promoters One Pod. The cancellation followed a controversial set by the duo at Glastonbury Festival, where they led chants of “death, death to the IDF” and called out various governments and institutions.
According to Jackson-Smith, Radar was caught in the middle of behind-the-scenes conversations involving the venue, co-owners AMG and Live Nation, and local authorities. She described this situation as a difficult decision that forced her to have a direct conversation with Bob Vylan’s representatives about their removal from the festival lineup.
“It was one of the most horrendous professional discussions I’ve ever had,” she emphasized. “Bob Vylan knew we didn’t want to pull them.”
The backlash against the band has continued, with Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy criticizing the BBC for airing the performance and US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau describing their remarks as a “hateful tirade.”
Source: www.billboard.com
