Over 60 artists who are due to play or have previously played Sónar Festival have written an open letter to them over their “complicity” with the private equity firm KKR.
The event is one of 80 festivals owned by Superstruct Entertainment, which is majority owned by KKR. The firm holds significant investments in companies with ties to Israel amid the current situation in Gaza.
The letter urges the Barcelona-based electronic music festival to “take a clear ethical stance in light of its financial ties with complicit entities involved in Israel’s ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.”
“As artists committed to justice and creative integrity, we believe silence is not an option. Our industry must not be a vehicle for normalising or whitewashing state violence,” it reads. “The complicity of international institutions—including corporations and cultural platforms—is a key enabler of this atrocity. We therefore take a collective stand to oppose any affiliation between the cultural sector and entities complicit in war crimes.”
The letter also points out that the festival is sponsored by Coca-Cola and McDonald’s McFlurry, both of which are targets of the BDS movement.
The group of artists have called on the festival to “publicly distance itself from KKR’s complicit investments”, “adopt ethical policies for programming and partnerships”, “respect BDS guidelines” and “engage transparently with artists and communities on these concerns”.
The letter continued: “Sónar has long positioned itself as a platform for experimentation, innovation, and cross-cultural dialogue. Today, those values are being tested. The artists urge the festival to rise to the occasion, break ties with complicit actors, and follow the demands that the largest Palestinian coalition leading the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement has made of all Superstruct-owned events.”
You can read the full letter here and see a list of the signees here.
Sónar has since released a statement on its ownership, calling itself a “platform that promotes diversity, inclusion, and respects the freedom of expression of its artists, participants, and collaborators”.
“The Sónar team has always worked and will always work with the premise of promoting respect for universal human rights,” they wrote. “The festival strongly condemns all forms of violence.”
The festival will return from June 12-16. It was founded in Barcelona in 1994, and has since seen spin-off versions occur in cities across the world, including Buenos Aires, Hong Kong and Reykjavik.
It is not the only festival to face boycotts as a result of ties to KKR. So far, 11 artists have pulled out of this year’s Field Day in solidarity with Palestine.
Two weeks ago, over 50 artists including Massive Attack and Brian Eno signed an open letter to Field Day, asking it to distance itself from global investment firm KKR.
In a statement shared on Instagram yesterday (May 15), Field Day started: “Our aim has always been, simply, to give you an incredible festival experience with the very best artists from around the world. Through many challenging times, various venues and several changes of ownership, Field Day has never compromised on those ambitions and values, putting on the best show we can in the way we always have.”
It continued: “By partnering with Superstruct Entertainment in April 2023, the future of the festival and its creative and operational independence were secured – the ownership changed but not the ethos. Since then, as has been reported, they have been bought by KKR, of which we had no say in, which has prompted a passionate discussion.”
The festival said that it “recognises the strength of the feeling of the artists involved and the fans who attend” and said it is “sorry” that some artists have pulled out.
Earlier this year, Boiler Room – which has the same owners as Field Day – issued a statement reaffirming its “unapologetically pro-Palestine” stance. It said: “Boiler Room has been through various changes in control, investors, boards, and ownership, and through this our commitment to editorial independence and Palestine has never wavered. No investor, past or present, has ever influenced our output, this will never change.
“We will always remain unapologetically pro-Palestine. We continue to adhere to BDS and PACBI guidelines regarding artist programming and brand partnerships and engage with Palestinian artists and organisers in order to formalise our internal policies in line with this commitment. We uphold international law and human rights for all, regardless of identity.
Superstruct Entertainment is behind more than 80 events across the UK and Europe, including Sziget, Brunch Electronik, Mighty Hoopla and Lost Village.
Mighty Hoopla addressed the boycott earlier today (May 16). In a statement, it said that while it “cannot control agreements or investments made in our parent companies”, it does want to “state our clear opposition to KKR’s unethical investments”.
“Mighty Hoopla is a space to connect through music, fashion and culture. A space to escape the outside world, a space to feel safe. As an LGBTQ+ inclusive festival we take issues of complicity and transparency extremely seriously and without any knowledge, we have become caught up in something we unequivocally stand against,” the statement began.
“Mighty Hoopla became part of Superstruct in April 2023, in order not only to deliver a better quality event but also to help secure the future of the festival. From the start, Superstruct have always ensured we maintained full autonomy and freedom across our programming, artist booking, marketing and most importantly our values, keeping a vital independent sensibility to our show,” it added.
“In October 2024, Superstruct itself had a change of ownership when its then parent company sold their interest to a new investor, KKR- a transaction that we were not involved with and had no knowledge of until its completion. Since then, information has come to light about KKR’s unethical investments, particularly in complicit Israeli corporations, which directly counter what we stand for as a festival.”
Explaining the festival’s stance towards the investor’s actions, it continued: “We recognise that the world’s highest court, the International Court of Justice ruled that Israel is plausibly committing genocide in Gaza and that it is practising apartheid and occupation against the Palestinian people.
“Whilst we cannot control agreements or investments made in our parent companies, we wish to state our clear opposition to KKR’s unethical investments. As a festival we will always use our platform to champion and fund other LGBTQ+ organisations, projects and charities as well as continuing to uplift brilliant queer artists across our shows. No owner or investor will ever change what Mighty Hoopla stands for and the community it serves.”
Concluding, it shared: “This is an ongoing conversation and we want to thank participating artists, Palestinian campaigners, and queer activists for engaging with us and working with us through this period. For many years, we have carefully curated our lineups, and vetted potential sponsors and partners, based on our own ethical values, and the BDS movement’s guidelines. We will continue to do so whilst building up to our biggest show to date. Mighty Hoopla stands with our community.”
Read the original article here