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

Around 50 minutes before Kneecap take to the stage at Glastonbury 2025, 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 festival. 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.

Read this next: The Prodigy at Glastonbury 2025: The rave gods are elemental

Two weeks earlier, 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 Isreal's 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 and continued support for the Israeli regime currently accused of undertaking it, alongside a wider examination of free speech for artists and their ability to freely express themselves. For their critics, they accused of voicing support for a listed terror organisation, and their presence at the UK's biggest music event is a sets a dangerous precedent. At the centre, are three outspoken men from West Belfast, unwilling to compromise on their beliefs.

Hours before the set is due to kick off, there's an announcement that the BBC will not be including Kneecap as part of its live broadcast; whispers travel through the field before the three even walk out that this is now their biggest crowd yet — having packled out the 30,000-capacity West Holts stage. Both Glastonbury's 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, including Glasgow's TRNSMT.

And so, Kneecap walk out at West Holts to be greeted by their biggest crowd ever - thousands of people with many waving Palestine flags, flares area ready to be cracked, mosh pit pros nimble and ready, T-shirts with the slogan “more Blacks, more dogs more Irish" and signs reading: “free Mo Chara”. A friend texts us to meet “near the Palestine flag” — an extremely difficult task considering the view from every angle is a sea of them.

DJ Próvaí comes on stage first - donning his signature tricolour balaclava and a "we are all Palestine Action" slogan t-shirt - to a cacophony of snippets of news reports branding Kneecap as “offensive”, “terrorists” and “inappropriate”. Joined quickly by Mo Chara and Móglaí Bap, they come out to the spiritual tones of ‘3CAG’ - 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, before thanking the Eavis family for their support in not bowing to pressure for their removal. Though in true Kneecap style, this is followed quickly by: “We got a notification saying the West Holts area has now been fenced off because there's too many fucking Fenian bastards in the middle of this park, also, anybody going to Rod Stewart tomorrow? That man is older than Isreal".

Read this next: Keir Starmer claims Kneecap appearance at Glastonbury "is not appropriate"

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 words 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, maybe beyond Glastonbury's gates there is a clear sense that 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, as a huge mosh-pit forms during the rowdy stylings of their new track, 'THE RECAP', it's difficult to deny that these three are anything less than an incredible rap act. 

The Irish rap trio found their early career in speaking to the disenfranchised youth of Ireland and it has taken them to speaking to the disenfranchised youth of the UK, and in their next act, the rest of the world. Kneecap's set during Glastonbury 2025 was not an atmosphere of being part of the story, but one of common belief and absolutely having it.

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