Boycott of Superstruct Entertainment festivals


In 2025, a boycott campaign started against music festivals promoted by Superstruct Entertainment, owned by KKR private equity conglomerate since 2024. The campaign is motivated by KKR's economic interests in Israel that campaigners characterize as complicity in the Gaza genocide. Several artists canceled their performances at festivals such as Field Day in the United Kingdom or Sónar in Spain.
The boycott in Spain has received support from the Ministry of Culture and the left political parties Sumar, United Left, Podemos and Republican Left of Catalonia.

Background

Since 2017, Superstruct Entertainment has built up a large portfolio of music festivals, with more than 80 events worldwide, and a particularly strong presence in Europe. In June 2024, the Kohlberg Kravis Roberts private-equity conglomerate announced the acquisition of Superstruct. KKR's investments in Israel-linked companies became central to the controversy: Axel Springer, a German publisher operating the Yad2 real estate platform that lists properties in occupied Palestinian territories; the cybersecurity firm Optiv, which has partnerships in Israel; or the Coastal GasLink pipeline.

Timeline

Campaign emergence (August 2024-April 2025)

Soon after the acquisition was announced, in August 2024, a protest took place at the Flow Festival in Helsinki. The band Megabondmon used their performance to protest KKR's role in Gaza. In early 2025, a campaign emerged to boycott all Superstruct festivals until they changed ownership.
On 17 March 2025, Daytimers announced that they would not participate in any event promoted by Superstruct, withdrawing from Mighty Hoopla and Lost Village festivals. The South Asian collective called out KKR's involvement in "genocide" and encouraged other artists to follow their steps.

Escalation (May 2025-present)

In May 2025, 70 artists who previously performed at Sónar festival, signed an open letter vowing to not perform at the festival, and calling to support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. The festival organization announced they would implement a procedure to get tickets refunded.
On 13 May 2025, the newspaper El Salto published a piece on KKR's takeover of Spanish festivals. The publication of this article has been credited as a pivotal moment for awareness in Spain.
On 17 May 2025, the Minister of Culture of Spain, Ernest Urtasun declared that KKR is "not welcome" in the country, and requested that KKR and other companies involved in the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements to be barred from participation in the European single market. Enrique Santiago, spokesperson of United Left demanded that the Government stops any authorizations of festivals owned by KKR in the country.
On 20 May 2025, the Rivas-Vaciamadrid city hall, governed by United Left, announced they would rescind the agreement with ShareMusic!, a Superstruct subsidiary, by which it used a public venue in the municipality for their festivals. Festivals already scheduled for June 2025 would proceed, but no further usage would be allowed.
On 21 May 2025,, spokesperson of Podemos in Gijón, demanded the end of any institutional funding of the Tsunami Xixón festival, owned by Superstruct.
In June 2025, in response to the cascading cancellations, Superstruct published a statement claiming that proceeds from festivals and events would remain within the company and would not go to KKR.
On 4 June 2025, the municipal groups of Republican Left of Catalonia in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat and Barcelona called for an institutional boycott of Sónar 2025 over KKR ownership.
On 7 June 2025, in Amsterdam, 14 artists pulled out from the lineup citing KKR investment. The artists announced this under the Ravers For Palestine Instagram account. They included Angelboy, Slimfit and DJ Shahmaran. In Valencia, a group of activists put up Palestine flags on a bridge over the venue, and artists like Zahara advocated for peace in Palestine during their performances.

Cancelled performances

Approximately half of the Field Day festival lineup cancelled their confirmed performances. The cancellations included Sisu Crew, Midland, Roza Terenzi, Spray, Regularfantasy and Mall Grab. more than 30 artists cancelled their performances at Sónar, including Arca, Rone and Juliana Huxtable. canceled its performance at the. pulled out from the Festival Internacional de Benicàssim. and Crossed pulled out of the Resurrection Fest lineup. The drum and bass collective Fokin Massive cancelled their upcoming act at the. Residente cancelled performences at FIB and Morriña Fest.
The following artists have participated in the boycott: