Kneecap at Glastonbury 2025: will Kneecap’s set be on TV and why BBC should show it

Kneecap are set to perform perhaps the most talked about set of the weekend at Glastonbury Festival. The Prime Minister of our country seemed to feel like it is such a pressing concern that he has weighed in on it - amid a heatwave and the continued cost-of-living crisis.

The hip-hop trio from Belfast are due to take to one of the main stages at Worthy Farm in the coming days. A regular foe of the group, Kemi Badenoch, has even called for the set to be censored by the BBC - perhaps in a desperate attempt to stay relevant amid plummeting polling.

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If you are wanting to know what all the fuss is about - or want to support Kneecap from home, you might be wondering if it will be available to watch. Here’s all you need to know - as of Monday, June 23.

Will Kneecap’s Glastonbury Festival set be on TV?

Throughout the weekend, the BBC will be providing plenty of live coverage from Worthy Farm. It will be split across terrestrial TV and iPlayer - with it also being on the radio as well.

Kneecap are due to perform on the West Holts stage on Saturday (June 28) at 4pm. This is one of the five stages that will have dedicated live streams on the Beeb’s streaming platform.

The hip-hop trio’s set is due to last for an hour and will finish at 5pm, just before the BBC’s terrestrial TV coverage begins on BBC Two. It means that if you want to watch, make sure you have

Why Kneecap’s set needs to be televised in 2025

If we turned the clocks back a year, you probably were not aware of Kneecap at all - however they have become increasingly controversial and the subject of much media interest. Ironically, of course, that does include this article.

Over the weekend figures from across the political spectrum have weighed in on the group’s upcoming slot at Glastonbury. The Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer told The Sun that it was “not appropriate” for the trio to appear while Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch urged the BBC not to show their set.

The band’s vocal support for the Palestinian cause has seen them embroiled in a media whirlwind. Comments made during a concert allegedly in support of Hezbollah - a proscribed group in the UK - saw member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh (who performs under the stage name Mo Chara) charged, although he had been released under conditional bail after a court appearance this month.

Whether you enjoy Kneecap’s music or agree with their views, it feels like a dangerous president for the Prime Minister trying to influence the line-up of one of the country’s biggest music festivals.

If you don’t want to watch Kneecap this weekend, then don’t go to the iPlayer app and find the live stream. But the trio undoubtedly have a message that many people want to listen to and they deserve to be heard - if all of the other acts on the West Holts stage will be as well.

You control the buttons you press after all - and you can simply put on one of the four other live streams during their set. I hope the BBC don’t give into political pressure, because censoring Kneecap would be a deeply embarrassing moment and set a dangerous precedent.

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