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View all search resultsPestapora ends on sour note after mass pullout over Freeport sponsorship
Hailed as one of the biggest music festivals in the country, Pestapora ended this year’s iteration on a sour note after dozens of its performers, including headliners, pulled out from its lineup following the discovery of its controversial sponsorship from mining giant PT Freeport Indonesia.
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Operations are ongoing at mining firm PT Freeport Indonesia in Timika, Papua. (Courtesy of/PT Freeport Indonesia)
H
ailed as one of the biggest music festivals in the country, Pestapora ended this year’s iteration on a sour note after dozens of its performers, including headliners, pulled out from its lineup following the discovery of its controversial sponsorship from mining giant PT Freeport Indonesia.
Pestapora, established in 2022, was among the most anticipated events in the country among festivalgoers amid the wave of canceled major music festivals this year, including We The Fest and Joyland.
Concerns initially grew that Pestapora, held from Sept. 5 to 7, would also postpone or cancel its event following weeklong protests and unrest in Jakarta in late August that was fueled by growing economic inequality and led to heavy military and police presence across the capital.
But the music festival persisted and kicked off to a strong start on Friday, drawing thousands of attendees despite a last-minute change to begin performances as early as 8 a.m.
However, a viral video showed a marching band representing PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) at the venue on Friday quickly garnered widespread backlash on social media, with many criticizing the festival’s sponsor pick.
“How could you invite performers with environmentalist stances and then ask Freeport to be your sponsor?” a user on X wrote on Saturday.
PTFI, once owned by the United States mining company Freeport McMoRan, has long been accused of environmental damages and serious human rights violations throughout its decades-long operation mining Papua’s copper and gold reserves.
