(Credits: Cecily Eno)
Over 100 artists, including Brian Eno, Ben UFO, and Mr. Scruff, have signed an open letter calling on the London festival Field Day to distance itself from KKR, the parent company of Superstruct, who own the festival.
The open letter calls on the London-based day festival to publicly reject the investments, which include but are not limited to the Coastal GasLink pipeline and several Israeli corporations that operate in occupied Palestinian territories.
The letter reads: “The consequences of KKR’s complicity in Israel’s genocide in Gaza and apartheid regime against all Palestinians are not only countless violations of human rights and international law, but the systematic destruction of Palestinian life and society; not to mention the violence erupting throughout the region, killing Lebanese civilians, humanitarian aid workers, and too many others.”
While noting that “this acquisition was not the choice of Field Day,” it still stressed that the festival “has an urgent and profound legal and moral obligation to take a clear stand.” The list of demands included that Field Day publicly distance itself from KKR.
It was also demanded that Field Day adopt an ethical programming and partnerships policy, and respect and uphold Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) guidelines. The demands closed with the point that the festival must engage with its artists and workers regarding all stated wishes.
The demands are not absolutely final, as the letter notes: “We are open to constructive dialogue with the Field Day team about how to urgently and most effectively achieve these demands, given the challenging position they have been put in.”
Recently, Boiler Room released a statement after being scrutinised through the same lens. They, too, are owned by KKR, the world’s second-largest investment firm.
Boiler Room emphasised this fact in its statement: “No Boiler Room staff at any level held any ownership or voting rights in the company and had no control over the sale. We are also unable to divest because we have no say in our ownership,” the post on Instagram said.
Field Day’s owner, Superstruct, was acquired by KKR in June 2024 for $1.3 billion. Since then, several artists have dropped out of Superstruct-owned festivals.
The open letter concludes: “We will fight for our values of freedom, safety, dignity, and accountability, and we invite you, Field Day, to take action alongside us.”
Far Out has requested Field Day for comment.
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