Bpoplive
Genting Arena, where Bpoplive was set to be held.
|
|
| Date | 8 May 2016 (cancelled) 19 June 2016 (cancelled) |
|---|---|
| Location | Genting Arena, Birmingham |
| Type | Concert and political rally |
| Theme | Brexit |
| Organized by | Leave.EU and Brexit Live |
| Website | http://www.bpoplive.co.uk/ |
Bpoplive (also marketed as Brexit Live presents bpopLIVE) was a planned music festival and political rally in support of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union ("Brexit"), supported by the pressure group Leave.EU and scheduled to be held on 19 June 2016 at Genting Arena, Birmingham. The proposed line-up for the event was changed several times, as artists pulled out complaining that they had not been told that it was a political event. The original plan was for three events to be held in the run-up to the EU membership referendum, but the concert, which was to be held on 8 May 2016, was cancelled when all of the line-up except Phats and Small pulled out.
Leave.EU denied that the event was political, and said that it was a non-partisan event to increase voter registration among young people, claiming that the presence of Leave.EU logos and anti-EU speakers on Bpoplive promotional material was "a miscommunication", but the event has been widely referred to in the media as a "Brexit concert" or "anti-EU music festival" and in the original press release as "the biggest political rally in modern British history". Politicians from the Leave.EU campaign were also set to speak at the concert.
BuzzFeed identified Bpoplive as an attempt to reach the key youth demographic by the leave campaign. Leave.EU described the event as related to the American Rock the Vote campaign, a non-partisan attempt to engage young voters, who traditionally have low turnout.
Although the cancelled 8 May event was explicitly organised by Leave.EU and Grassroots Out, on 26 May 2016, Leave.EU disclaimed any role in the 19 June festival beyond giving it their endorsement. The official organiser was "Brexit Live", which is registered as a non-party campaign group separately from Leave.EU, which means that Bpoplive's costs did not count towards Leave.EU's spending limits. However, the Daily Mirror noted that Bpoplive was being organised by Leave.EU's leaders, and Brexit's Live's spokesperson – who was also Leave.EU's spokesperson – told The Mirror that Bpoplive's expenses "probably should" be registered under Leave.EU but that they had not broken any rules.
...
Wikipedia