Two UK festivals that are part of the Superstruct group have issued statements in response to a growing backlash over their connection, via Superstruct, to private equity firm KKR, which has significant investments in Israel.
In those statements, the organisers of both Field Day and Mighty Hoopla are keen to stress that they allied with Superstruct before the festival group was acquired by KKR last year, and that they had no involvement in or control over that acquisition.
Mighty Hoopla in particular shares some strong opinions about the conduct of its ultimate owner, declaring, “we wish to state our clear opposition to KKR’s unethical investments”. It then adds, “no owner or investor will ever change what Mighty Hoopla stands for and the community it serves”.
KKR’s ownership of Superstruct, and therefore a large portfolio of music festivals, has come into the spotlight since the start of the month after more than 50 artists signed an open letter which said that the equity firm is “known to invest in companies which develop Israeli underground data centres, and advertise real estate on illegally occupied land in Israeli settlements in the West Bank”.
“The consequences of KKR’s complicity in Israel's genocide in Gaza and apartheid regime against all Palestinians”, the letter went on, “are not only countless violations of human rights and international law, but the systematic destruction of Palestinian life and society”.
Although the letter noted that Superstruct is now involved in 80 festivals around the world, it honed in on London’s Field Day in particular. While acknowledging that KKR’s acquisition of Superstruct was “not the choice of Field Day”, the letter said that the connection with the private query outfit “nonetheless means that the festival is now implicated”.
“Given recent rulings by the International Court Of Justice that Israel is plausibly committing genocide, is guilty of apartheid and that its occupation is illegal”, the letter continued, “Field Day has an urgent and profound legal and moral obligation to take a clear stand against KKR's complicity”.
In the last couple of years, a number of festivals, including SXSW and The Great Escape, have faced boycotts from artists and fans who support the Palestinian cause because of their links to companies that operate or invest in Israel.
However, in most previous cases that related to sponsors of the targeted festivals. It is obviously easier for festivals to deal with criticism over their sponsors - providing they are willing and able to give up the sponsorship income - whereas when the criticism is of the event’s owner, the festival finds itself in a very tricky position.
The open letter about KKR’s ownership of Superstruct prompted some artists booked to play Field Day later this month to pull out, which in turn prompted organisers of the festival to issue a statement. In it they explain that they partnered with Superstruct in April 2023 to secure “the future of the festival and its creative and operational independence”.
By becoming part of the Superstruct group, the statement says, “the ownership changed but not the ethos”. But since then KKR bought Superstruct “which has prompted a passionate discussion. As a high-profile event operating in a global context, our team, of course, recognises the strength of feeling of the artists involved and the fans who attend”.
Adding that “we are sorry that some artists have chosen not to perform at this year’s festival”, the statement concludes, “we know there will be many of you out there who are hurt and angry about this situation. We hope that this helps you to understand the position of the festival team”.
Organisers of the Mighty Hoopla, which also takes place in London, said similar things in their statement - in terms of justifying the alliance with Superstruct and insisting they remain autonomous when it comes to programming - but were then much more forthright in criticising KKR.
“Whilst we cannot control agreements or investments made in our parent companies, we wish to state our clear opposition to KKR's unethical investments”, their statement reads.
Superstruct was founded by private equity firm Providence and Cream founder and former Live Nation exec James Barton back in 2017. It has been on quite the acquisition spree since then - resulting in its portfolio of 80 festivals - before being acquired itself by KKR.
Earlier this year Superstruct also bought live streaming platform Boiler Room from previous owner DICE. Boiler Room actually put out a statement on KKR being its ultimate owner back in March, explaining that the equity firm “has investments that categorically do not align with our values”.
Stressing that the Boiler Room team had not been involved in the change of ownership, that statement went on, “no investor, past or present, has ever influenced our output, this will never change”, before adding, “we will always remain unapologetically pro-Palestine”.
