Promoter Of 'Black Metal' Music Festival Responds To Bergen County Backlash

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — A two-day "black metal" music festival in the town of Garfield was canceled this week after officials and members of the public said some of the bands scheduled to perform were associated with Nazi symbols.

The Wisla Club in Garfield canceled Vengeance Fest VII for Friday and Saturday in response to "concerns" from the public, the club said Wednesday.

"I want to commend the entire Wisła Club Board of Directors for their professionalism, transparency, and leadership in addressing the concerns surrounding this event," Gafield Mayor Everett Garnto said this week. "Their willingness to listen to the community, take appropriate action, and reaffirm their commitment to maintaining a welcoming, respectful, and inclusive environment speaks volumes."

While the event has been canceled — and the Polish social club said they will remain closed from Friday through Monday — police in Garfield said they will still maintain a presence near the venue.

"The Garfield Police Department received information that the bands playing in the festival may have ties to white supremacy and antisemitism," they said. "Our concern and focus were solely on the law enforcement and security aspects."

Before the show was canceled, one commenter on Facebook suggested that people "should show up to Garfield this weekend and let that venue know what happens when you platform Nazis."

The person asked, "Why the [expletive] are we still talking about Nazis in the year 2026?"

Wednesday afternoon, Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco, U.S. Rep. Nellie Pou, State Sen. Benjie Wimberly, and Assemblyman Al Abdelaziz released a statement about the event.

"Bergen County is one of the most diverse communities in America, and that diversity is one of our greatest strengths," they wrote. "Let us be clear: Hate has no home in Bergen County. The racist, antisemitic, and white supremacist ideologies reportedly associated with the now-cancelled music event in Garfield are fundamentally at odds with the values we share as a community."

They added, "We appreciate that the Wisła Club listened to the concerns raised by residents and community leaders."

The club said in a statement that they'd been unaware of the backgrounds of the event's performers.

"Wisła Club was not informed about the backgrounds, affiliations, or controversies associated with any of the bands or performers appearing at this event," they said. "Wisła Club has always been committed to fostering a welcoming, respectful, and inclusive environment for all members of our community."

They added, "We do not support or endorse any form of hatred, discrimination, extremism, racism, or ideology that conflicts with these values. We are currently reviewing our venue rental procedures to ensure that future events are more thoroughly vetted."

A critic of the event posted on social media, "If anyone is still pretending they don’t know what these people are about, go look at their Facebook page." At least one of the posters for the event appears to have a swastika as part of a symbol, but that portion was removed on subsequent posters.

At least one band announced that they were dropping out of the festival.

Promoter Responds

The concert promoters, KEP Productions, posted on social media that the concerts will now take place at an undisclosed location.

"We knew this would happen and always have a backup," they wrote. "We've been doing this since 1994. Never have I seen such weakness in a people, never."

The group is on a list posted by the Southern Poverty Law Center of "hate music groups."

They responded to inquiries from Patch by saying, "I book Black and Death Metal Artists. Nothing more and nothing less. I've already did one interview this morning. Black Metal bands have songs about extreme topics. I've said this before."

The spokesperson added, "I've been targeted by the left because I'm Low Hanging Fruit and not a corporation. Period. If someone doesn’t want to attend the show, they have that option. That's all. It's Metal Music. That's all. It appears everyone is protected by the 1st Amendment except me and Black Metal Musicians."