Festival giant loses €111m amid ‘Israel’ boycott, financial report shows

• Festival operator Superstruct increased its borrowing by €109 million in 2025, taking total debt to €392.5 million.
• The company recorded losses of €111.3 million, up from €77.6 million the previous year.
• Several artists have boycotted or withdrawn from Superstruct festivals over the investment links of its owner, KKR.

Superstruct, one of Europe’s major live-music and festival operators, increased its debt and reported wider losses in 2025 as several of its events faced pro-Palestine boycotts.

The company, which operates festivals including Field Day, Cross the Tracks and Boiler Room in the UK, added €109 million in borrowing during the year ending December 2025. Its total debt reached €392.5 million, while losses increased to €111.3 million from €77.6 million a year earlier.

Superstruct boycott

The financial results came amid a campaign targeting Superstruct over its ownership by US private-equity firm KKR, which acquired the festival group in October 2024.

Pro-Palestine campaigners have called for boycotts of Superstruct events since 2025, citing KKR’s investments in companies with links to ‘Israel’. 

In May 2025, more than 80 artists signed an open letter directed at Sónar, Superstruct’s major electronic-music festival in Barcelona. The artists said they opposed what they described as links between the cultural sector and entities connected to war crimes.

Other Superstruct events, including London’s Field Day, have also faced artist withdrawals linked to the campaign.

The issue intensified at Victorious Festival in Portsmouth after Irish folk band The Mary Wallopers had their performance cut short following chants in support of Palestine. The group had also displayed a Palestinian flag during its set.

Several artists subsequently withdrew from the festival in protest. Organizers later apologized and said they would make a donation toward Palestinian relief efforts.

The impact of boycotts

Superstruct’s results come amid a wider pattern of companies facing financial pressure from consumer and artist-led boycotts linked to the war in Gaza. Major brands including McDonald’s, Starbucks and Unilever have previously acknowledged that boycott campaigns or consumer backlash over perceived ties to ‘Israel’ affected sales in some markets.