The Belgian city of Ypres has canceled an upcoming music festival following criticism about the lineup of acts and their ties to neo-Nazi and fascist groups, reported The Brussels Times.
The Ypres city council on Tuesday revoked the permit for the Frontnacht music festival, which was to be held the weekend of Aug. 27-28, after European intelligence services and Belgium’s Coordination Unit for Threat Analysis expressed concerns about the affiliations of the acts set to perform.
The event was set to be a part of the annual Flemish nationalist festival Ijzerwake, which takes place in the Flanders region of Belgium and is organized by a group of radical Flemish nationals also called IJerwake.
Scheduled to headline the festival was the Italian band Bronson, whose members belong to Italy’s neo-fascist CasaPound movement and regularly praise the late fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, Vice reported. The publication also noted that other acts in the lineup had ties to the neo-Nazi group Blood & Honour and the international white-supremacist gang the Hammerskins.
The Ypres city council gave a permit to the IJzerwake group to organize the music festival when it was first announced in May but the permit came with conditions, Ypres city councilor of events Diego Desmadryl explained on Tuesday.
“For example, on the condition that no groups would perform with neo-Nazi and neo-fascist ties,” said Desmadryl, according to The Brussels Times. “The permit has now been revoked because the conditions are no longer met.”
City officials also explained that the permit was given before the council was informed of the lineup for the festival.
