Pystrance festival organised by alleged IDF soldier cancelled in Portugal amid BDS campaign
Organisers of Anta Gathering claim local officials were "pressured" into requiring the festival to implement a fire safe zone around its woodland site in Central Portugal.
A psytrance festival in Portugal, organised by an alleged IDF solider, has been cancelled amid a dispute with a local BDS campaign.
Anta Gathering had been due to run from August 28 - September 1, in Viseu, Central Portugal — however, the event was cancelled yesterday, hours before it had been due to start.
According to Portuguese publication PÚBLICO, local officials withdrew permission for the event to take place due to "fire concerns" at the site, which is described by Anta Gathering's website as an "untouched sanctuary of forests, rivers and lakes" 30 minutes from the town São Pedro do Sul.
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However, Anta Gathering has claimed pressure from Portugal's Boycott Divest Sanction (BDS) campaign led to the decision, claiming that activists had "worked for months to sabotage our vision" in a statement posted via Instagram.
Comité de Solidariedade com a Palestina, an off-shoot group of BDS Portugal, had called for the event to be boycotted due to the alleged IDF ties of Anta Gathering's organisers, Israeli brothers Shahar Pierre Bickel and Dean Bickel.
In an instagram post, Comité de Solidariedade com a Palestina claimed Anta Gathering's main organiser Shahar Bickel is a "reservist soldier who returned to Israel in October 2023" and "served until at least December of that year".
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They go on to allege Shahar is a "soldier in the Sayeret Nahal batallion", a Reconnaissance Battalion that has operated within the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and Lebanon.
While local officials had reportedly heard concerns over the the alleged actions of Anta Gathering's organisers, Mayor of São Pedro do Sul Vítor Figueiredo told PÚBLICO that the decision had ultimately come down to "the large amount of combustible material on the ground".
Megan Townsend is Mixmag's Deputy Editor, follow her on Twitter
