Brian Eno, Ben UFO and Jyoty sign open letter calling on Field Day to distance itself from KKR

Over 100 artists from the electronic world and beyond have signed an open letter calling on Field Day to publicly distance itself from the investments of KKR — the parent company of its owner, Superstruct.

The letter has been written by a coalition of DJs, led by femme collective Sisu Crew and past Field Day alumni such as Midland, DEBONAIR and I.JORDAN.

The letter calls on Field Day to take a clear stance against KKR's investments, which include stakes in weapons manufacturing companies, the Coastal GasLink pipeline and a number of Israeli corporations that operate in occupied Palestinian territories, with an official statement that outlines its position on "the genocide of Palestinians".

Read this next: Boiler Room issues statement concerning new owners Superstruct/KKR

Alongside this, the letter asks Field Day to respect and uphold Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) guidelines, supported by organisations such as Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), and engage with artists to ensure the festival maintains ethical programming.

Among signatories are Brian Eno, Jyoty, Mr. Scruff, Pangaea, Ben UFO, Massive Attack's Robert Del Naja, Om Unit, Dub Athlete, and many more.

The letter comes following a statement from Boiler Room last month, which is also owned by Superstruct/KKR, publicly distancing itself from KKR and insisting that it will "always remain unapologetically pro-Palestine" and continue to adhere by BDS guidelines.

Read this next: Daytimers withdraw from Lost Village and Mighty Hoopla slots over Superstruct acquisition

Superstruct was acquired by KKR, the world's second-largest investment firm, in June 2024 for a sum of $1.3 billion. Since then, several artists have dropped out of Superstruct-owned festivals and events — including South Asian collective Daytimers, who withdrew slots from Lost Village and Mighty Hoopla due to their parent company's acquisition by KKR.

You can read the full open letter below, and read the full list of signatures here.

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

We are a coalition of artists - including many who have been booked to play Field Day in the past and present - who come together to stand against Israel’s genocide in Gaza and to stand for all rights of the Palestinian people under international law.

We see our stance as a part of a longstanding tradition of the art and music world rejecting the injustice of oppression, and we continue that resistance today.

It has come to our attention that the global investment firm KKR has recently acquired Superstruct, the parent company of Field Day. KKR invests billions of pounds in companies which, for example, 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 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 we understand that this acquisition was not the choice of Field Day, it nonetheless means that the festival is now implicated in the crimes against humanity of apartheid and genocide. 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 — Field Day has an urgent and profound legal and moral obligation to take a clear stand against KKR’s complicity.

Festivals are vital spaces for music lovers to commune and celebrate humanity. They should not be fundraising opportunities for genocide, however indirectly. It is deeply regrettable that Field Day is now under the shadow of this concerning corporate connection.

Furthermore, dance music itself was born out of protest movements and has for so many of us been a way to stand against oppression, whether it is our own experiences of oppression or the oppression of others. This is why so many artists stood against The Great Escape, Latitude and Download festivals’ partnerships with Barclays, which was eventually dropped as a sponsor last year because of its financing of weapons companies arming Israel’s genocide. In the same spirit, we invite the Field Day team to acknowledge its role in the wider historical context of human rights and international solidarity alongside the overwhelming majority of the international community who consistently recognise the rights of the Palestinian people.

Compelled by this moral and legal imperative, we call upon Field Day to fulfil the following demands:

• Publicly distance itself from KKR to the fullest extent it possibly can, by taking a clear stance against KKR's complicit investments as well as outlining its position on the genocide of Palestinians, in an official statement
• Adopt an ethical programming and partnerships policy
• Respect and uphold Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) guidelines
• Engage with its artists and workers regarding all of the above

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. But they also have an important opportunity to stand on the right side of history, and they have the support of this coalition and our wider raving community to do so. We will fight for our values of freedom, safety, dignity, and accountability, and we invite you, Field Day, to take action alongside us.