"F**k Chega": British band shows controversial message at CA Vilar de Mouros festival

The British punk rock duo shouted and urged the crowd to yell "f**k Chega" while the message "Fuck Chega" was shown on the screen above the stage. The English punk rock band, formed in Brighton, England, performed on the first day of the Minho festival CA Vilar de Mouros and is now embroiled in controversy. During the performance, the British duo, made up of Phoebe Lunny and Selin Macieira-Boşgelmez, displayed on screen a message aimed at the Chega party: "Fuck Chega" ("Que se f**a o Chega", in Portuguese). Besides the written message, the singer encouraged the audience to shout the same phrase along with her. At the festival to present their debut album, "Who Let the Dogs Out", the duo also voiced other political messages, such as "To hell with the far right" and "Free Palestine, free Congo, free Sudan**"**, and they also displayed the Palestinian flag. André Ventura, leader of Chega, has already reacted to the performance on his account on the social network X, questioning the use of "taxpayers' money" to fund what he described as "nonsense". "'Fuck Chega' was heard on stage at the Vilar de Mouros Festival, where thousands of euros of taxpayers' money are spent (so Chega members and supporters also paid for this nonsense). Is anything allowed when it comes to insulting us? Can drugs and a 'fried' brain be used as a justification for offending millions of Portuguese people, and with public money on top of that?" he wrote. The mayor of Caminha, the municipality that hosts the festival, has also condemned the duo's behaviour. Liliana Silva, elected for the PSD, described the situation as "regrettable" in a post on her Facebook page. "I condemn this artist's behaviour in the same way that I condemn political point-scoring around it. The Vilar de Mouros Festival has no party and no colours. It belongs to the municipality of Caminha," the mayor wrote. Liliana Silva also said she was outraged that artists use the festival "to insult whatever it may be", arguing that such behaviour "is an affront to the freedom, respect and harmonious coexistence that we want to prevail at this festival". The CA Vilar de Mouros Festival is considered the oldest music festival in the Iberian Peninsula and has been held in the village from which it takes its name, Vilar de Mouros, in the municipality of Caminha, for more than six decades. In an interview with Jornal de Notícias, one of the festival's media partners, vocalist Phoebe Lunny said that artists do not need to belong to political parties; however, given "the overall rise of fascism worldwide, I think all artists have a responsibility at least to reflect the opinions of the people around them and the situations and environment in which they find themselves". Bassist Selin Macieira-Boşgelmez, who has Portuguese roots, added that the band wants to reconnect with the origins of the genre they represent. "I think political climates are becoming much more extreme, and I think that is also being reflected in music. I think that we, in particular, as a band and as an identity, are in a way very much built around that," she said in the same interview with JN. The CA Vilar de Mouros Festival is considered the oldest music festival in the Iberian Peninsula and has been held in the village from which it takes its name, Vilar de Mouros, in the municipality of Caminha, for more than six decades.