Radar Festival Left Without Saturday Headliner After Bob Vylan Controversy Rocks Line-Up

Manchester’s Radar Festival faced a dramatic turn of events this past weekend after losing its Saturday night headliner, punk duo Bob Vylan, following their controversial Glastonbury set. The fallout has not only left a significant gap in the festival’s schedule but has also ignited a wider debate over free speech, political expression in music, and the pressures on festival organisers caught in the crossfire.

Held at Manchester’s Victoria Warehouse from July 4th to July 6th, Radar Festival is known for championing alternative and underground music. This year’s edition, however, became overshadowed by political tensions after the removal of Bob Vylan from the line-up just days before their scheduled headline performance on Saturday, July 5th.

The London-based duo had sparked major controversy during an afternoon set at Glastonbury on June 28th. During their performance, they led the crowd in chants of “Death to the IDF,” a reference to the Israel Defence Forces, as well as “Free Palestine” and “From the river to the sea.” The latter phrase is often interpreted in politically charged ways, leading to intense backlash and heated debate across social media and the wider music industry.

Following the Glastonbury appearance, Radar Festival announced that Bob Vylan would no longer perform at the Manchester event. While the official statement cited external pressure, festival organiser Catherine Jackson-Smith later revealed her own conflicted stance. “I wanted Bob Vylan to perform at our festival,” she stated, but admitted they were “forced” to drop the band due to the backlash and controversy.

The removal sent shockwaves through the line-up. Several artists pulled out in protest and solidarity with Bob Vylan, including The Scratch, who released a strongly worded statement condemning what they described as censorship. “Shadowy government influence and wealthy lobbying groups should not be allowed to dictate who is given a platform and what can be said on it,” the Irish band declared.

Brighton-based punk band ĠENN also chose to withdraw, further compounding Radar Festival’s logistical and reputational challenges. With only hours to go before the gates opened, organisers scrambled to find a replacement headliner to fill Bob Vylan’s slot.

Jackson-Smith admitted that the team considered enlisting Kneecap, a politically outspoken Irish rap group known for their strong pro-Palestine messages and repeated chants of “fuck Keir Starmer” at their shows. However, due to time constraints and the ongoing political sensitivity surrounding the issue, that plan didn’t materialise.

Ultimately, Radar Festival went ahead without a Saturday headliner. Their official website continued to list “Headliner TBA” in the top slot, while the final support act of the evening, Swedish band Normandie, extended their performance to partially fill the void.

Despite being removed from the Radar Festival bill, Bob Vylan were anything but silent over the weekend. On the evening they were originally set to headline in Manchester, the band instead performed in Athens, Greece, supporting The Prodigy. There, they once again led chants of “Free Free Palestine,” continuing their defiant stance. Vocalist Bobby Vylan remarked to the crowd, “Everything I seem to say these days gets us in trouble,” before adding that they’ve become known as “those troublemakers from that other festival.”

Their actions have fuelled intense public and industry debate about the boundaries of political expression in music and the consequences artists face when stepping beyond them. For some, Bob Vylan’s removal represents the silencing of dissenting voices in mainstream culture; for others, the chants crossed a line into rhetoric too inflammatory to ignore.

Radar Festival now finds itself at the centre of this discourse, navigating criticism from both sides—accused by some of bowing to political pressure, and by others of allowing radical views too close to centre stage. Meanwhile, fans were left with a Saturday night that didn’t deliver the headline crescendo they had anticipated.

Still, the festival pressed on with the rest of its scheduled acts, maintaining a strong turnout and community atmosphere despite the late changes. Whether the controversy will impact Radar’s reputation long-term remains to be seen, but this year’s edition will likely be remembered more for what didn’t happen than what did.

As for Bob Vylan, the duo shows no sign of stepping back from their outspoken activism. Their willingness to speak their minds—regardless of consequence—has earned them both fierce admirers and equally vocal detractors. In the volatile intersection of music and politics, it’s clear that artists like Bob Vylan are not content to play it safe.

And for the UK’s festival scene, this incident may mark a turning point. The question now facing organisers, artists, and audiences alike is not just what music we want to hear—but what messages we’re willing to amplify.