Music
26 May 25

Kneecap donate Wide Awake earnings to Médecins Sans Frontières

Kneecap premiere at The Lighthouse Cinema. Copyright Miguel Ruiz.

The charity organisation has provided humanitarian assistance to Gaza for more than 20 years

Kneecap have donated earnings from their Wide Awake Festival headline show to Médecins Sans Frontières.

The Irish group played at the London festival in Brockwell Park last Friday, May 23 to a sold out crowd. The lineup also included Irish acts CMAT and Curtisy.

Alternative rock band English Teacher also played at the festival and stated during their performance that they "were proud to share the stage with people who stand up against oppression."

Last year, the band completed a 10-kilometre run on each day of their 12-date UK tour, raising more than £30,000. The funds went toward food kits for families in Palestine.

Kneecap's pledge to donate their headline fee to the charity - also known as Doctors Without Borders - came just days after one of its members Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh was charged with a terrorism offence for allegedly displaying a Hezbollah flag at a concert last year.

Addressing the charge from the stage on Friday, Ó hAnnaidh said: “I went for an interview with counter-terror police and within days, they came to their verdict that they were going to charge me.”

He also added that "they tried to stop this gig, honestly, you have no idea how close they came to pulling us."

Kneecap recently released their latest single 'The Recap Ft. Mozey (Bootleg Version)', which takes aim at the UK's Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch.