Mighty Hoopla has released a strongly-worded statement on its ownership amid criticism of parent company investments in Israel.
It comes after 15 acts pulled out of the Field Day music festival in solidarity with the people of Palestine, while over 200 performers signed an open letter urging the event’s organisers to sever ties with the private equity firm KKR. The boycott has been supported by prominent artists including Brian Eno, Massive Attack, and I. JORDAN.
Field Day, which draws over 40,000 revellers annually, is a sister festival to Mighty Hoopla and is owned by the same company, Superstruct Entertainment.
Last year, KKR acquired Superstruct Entertainment — which operates more than 80 festivals across Europe and Australia, including South West Four in Clapham Common — for a reported £1billion.
However, KKR has faced a backlash over ties to companies involved in the development of Israeli settlements on the West Bank.
The global investment giant also reportedly has stakes in weapons manufacturing companies such as Circor International, as well as the Coastal GasLink pipeline in Canada.
In a statement on Friday, organisers of Mighty Hoopla expressed their “clear opposition” to KKR’s “unethical investments” and said while they cannot control the agreements or investments made by parent companies, “no owner or investor will ever change what Mighty Hoopla stands for”.
In April, an open letter was published by the all-female DJ collective Sisu Crew accusing Field Day’s leadership of having “implicated in the crimes against humanity of apartheid and genocide”.
Malissa, Ariana V and Moontalk have confirmed they will no longer perform at Field Day amid Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza following the October 7 massacre, which killed 1,200 Israelis and led to the kidnapping of 250 more.
Meanwhile, Israel's response has killed more than 52,000 Palestinians, according to Gazan health officials.
The full statement from Mighty Hoopla reads: “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.
“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.
“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.
“We recognise that the world highest court, the International Court of Justice ruled that Israel is plausibly committing genocide in Gaza and that it is practicing 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.
“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.”
KKR has been approached by The Standard for comment.
