As the music side of South By South West got underway in Austin, Texas yesterday, The Austin Chronicle reported that about 60 acts have pulled out of official showcases because of the involvement of the US Army and defence companies in the music conference and showcase festival. Those connections with the military are proving controversial this year because of the conflict in Gaza.
One of the acts to join the boycott is Northern Irish rap group Kneecap, who said on X, "We have made the decision to cancel our three shows at SXSW and not travel to Austin as planned. It is done in solidarity with the people of Palestine and to highlight the unacceptable deep links the festival has to weapons companies and the US military who at this very moment are enabling a genocide and famine against a trapped population".
The US Army is one of six 'super sponsors' at SXSW this year. Meanwhile, the involvement of defence companies BAE Systems, RTX and Collins Aerospace has also been criticised, the latter sponsoring awards presented as part of a start-up pitch showcase.
Kneecap's social media post continued, "We cannot in good conscience attend an arts festival that has the US Army as a ‘super sponsor’ and is platforming RTX (formerly Raytheon), Collins Aerospace and BAE Systems, the very companies selling the weapons that have murdered 31,000 Palestinians, over 21,000 of them women and children. This is ten times the number of people killed in a 30 year war in the North of Ireland... in five months. These organisations are literally profiting from and facilitating war crimes".
"This decision will have a significant financial impact on Kneecap", the group admitted, "both on lost income and on logistical costs already incurred, but it isn’t an iota of hardship when compared with the unimaginable suffering being inflicted every minute of every day on the people of Gaza".
"That the organisers of SXSW have taken the decision to mix the arts with the military and weapons companies is unforgivable", they continued. "That they have done so as we witness a genocide facilitated by the US military and its contractors is depraved. We did consider only playing ‘unofficial events’ but this would still contribute to the festival indirectly. To those who have bought tickets to our SXSW shows, we know you will understand our decision and hope you can make other dates/cities on our upcoming North American tour".
The Austin For Palestine Coalition is maintaining a list of all the artists who have pulled out of SXSW because of the involvement of the military and defence companies. The APC has also been staging protests around the event since it began last week, and has been involved in a legal back and forth with SXSW management over its use of the festival's logo in a social media post about its campaign.