Multiple artists withdraw from Lost Village 2025 line-up over ties to Superstruct and KKR
Activist group Ravers For Palestine have revealed that a number of DJs have pulled out of appearing at this year’s Lost Village festival in light of its ties to Superstruct Entertainment and KKR.
Among those confirmed to have withdrawn from the festival are ANOTR, Crystal, HUNEE, Jorg Kuning, Livwutang, Mia Koden, Mr. Scruff, Narciss, OK Williams, Roza Terenzi, Optimo, and Nooriyah.
Lost Village is owned by Superstruct, the European event giant established by Providence Equity Partners. Last year, Superstruct was itself bought by two US private equity firms, CVC and KKR & Co. KKR has faced widespread criticism for its reported connections to Israeli tech and data firms, weapons manufacturers and defence contractors, the Coastal GasLink pipeline, and a number of Israeli corporations that operate in occupied Palestinian territories.
When asked about the artists withdrawing from Lost Village, a spokesperson for the festival told DJ Mag, “We’ve had a small number of artists step away, but also have some incredible acts who we’ve yet to announce, that will soon be joining us.
“We released this statement back in May; where we spoke clearly, honestly and transparently.”
In March, it was announced that DAYTIMERS had withdrawn from Lost Village and Mighty Hoopla, for which the KKR-owned Superstruct Entertainment is also joint promoter.
Lost Village followed that up with a statement in May. “To Superstruct we have made it clear that companies who want to invest in this world of art, music and culture must listen to the communities within it,” it read. “Our voices and yours. Cultural due diligence must form part of these conversations, well ahead of any investment being considered, because our fans care, our artists care and we care. This is a situation of incredible important to us.”
You can read the full statement here.
Earlier this week (11th August), over 700 artists and DJs active in Australia’s dance music scene added their signatures to an open letter distancing themselves from Boiler Room, whose parent company is the private equity and investment firm KKR.
“We will not play at Boiler Room while it is owned by Superstruct Entertainment and its parent company, KKR. Nor will we play for other events owned by Superstruct Entertainment such as Listen Out and Field Day,” the letter read. “We join artists across the globe who have boycotted events hosted by Superstruct Entertainment. We stand with those impacted by the harmful and death-making investments by Superstruct’s parent company KKR.”
In May, multiple DJs withdrew from Field Day in light of the KKR boycott.
In June, over 50 artists withdrew from Sónar 2025 over its ties to KKR, including Palestinian DJ and producer Sama’ Abdulhadi.
