Not the story: Kneecap draw their biggest crowd ever at Glastonbury 2025

Around 50 minutes before Kneecap take to the stage at Glastonbury, a notification is sent through the festival’s official app to all attendees: there is no access to West Holts, “please head to another area of the site”.

Regardless of your political leanings, your age, your background… anything, it’s inarguable that this is one of the focal sets of this year’s Glastonbury. Months of calls from political leaders - including UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer - demanding the Irish rap trio are removed from the Glastonbury line-up and prevented from being broadcast on the BBC have made this set one of the most discussed in the festival’s history.

Two weeks earlier, member of the trio Mo Chara appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court, charged with a terror offence due to a resurfaced video that allegedly showed him flying a Hezbollah flag; coming after numerous headlines accusing the trio of spreading “hate” and inappropriately using their platform for political means — the combination of which Kneecap have labelled a “smear campaign” due to their vocal support of Palestinian people and condemnation of the genocide in Gaza.

The outcry against Kneecap has arguably been met with a just as ferocious outcry in their defence. In May, over 100 artists signed an open letter in support of the trio, accusing the British government of “openly engaging in a campaign to remove Kneecap from the public eye,” while Massive Attack dedicated their own statement to the trio, insisting: “Kneecap are not the story, genocide is.”

This has become somewhat of a tagline for Kneecap’s supporters, believing that the trio have become a scapegoat for an amalgamation of political issues relating to the UK’s position on the genocide. At the centre, are three outspoken men from West Belfast, unwilling to compromise on their beliefs.

It’s fitting then as Kneecap ascend to their slot at West Holts - with the crowd having been ready and waiting for the last hour-and-a-half - that they thank the crowd and the Eavis family, while affirming their solidarity with the Palestinian people.Both Emily Eavis and her father Micheal have refused to budge on the booking, despite strong lobbying for their removal and many doubts if this set would even go ahead at all. Kneecap have been removed from several other festivals across this summer.

And so, Kneecap walk out at West Holts to be greeted by their biggest crowd ever - thousands of people with many waving Palestine flags, signs reading: “free Mo Chara” and T-shirts with the slogan “more Blacks, more dogs more Irish.” A friend texts us to meet “near the Palestine flag” — an extremely difficult task considering there are hundreds in our vicinity.

One third of the trio, DJ Próvaí comes on stage first - donning his signature tricolour balaclava - to a cacophony of snippets of news reports branding Kneecap as “offensive”, “terrorists” and “inappropriate”.

Joined quickly by Mo Chara and Móglaí Bap, they open with ‘Fine Art’ - within seconds of the track finishing, the crowd begin chants demanding the sound level is increased. Throughout their set, these demands are consistent, but seemingly never addressed by the festival production.

Following a run through of their track ‘The Sniffer Dogs are Shite’, Mo Chara approaches the mic and says: “has anybody been watching the news?” And begins relaying information about the terror charges against him to an orchestra of boos from the crowd.

Boos and cheers remain a consistent noise of solidarity and support during the set, only matched by the trio leading a chorus of “fuck Keir Starmer” and “you’re just a shit Jeremy Corbyn.”

While there is a clear political consensus in the crowd, it’s important to note that this isn’t a political rally; people here may be brought in by the trio’s beliefs and calls to action — but they are also having an absolute ball.

You spot multiple bass faces as they dish out their track ‘H.O.O.D’, screams as the crowd sing along in perfect recognition of the lyrics — including the word in Gaelic. The crowd are letting off flares, they are lifting each other onto their shoulders; Mo Chara gets to the mic and asks the crowd to “have a wee drink, maybe a wee sniff.”

The thing is, this is a focal point of political outcry in the UK, where the youth are generally opposed to the government’s ongoing support of Israeli forces as its genocide against the Palestinian people goes unchecked. But it would be naive, unfair even, to think that is the main draw of this set — because actually, when it comes down to it, Kneecap are an incredible rap act and this is an atmosphere of both common belief and absolutely having it.

Megan Townsend is Mixmag's Deputy Editor, follow her on Twitter