Several bands, including Scowl, Speed, and Zulu, have announced their withdrawal from Download 2024 due to its association with Barclays and the bank’s links to Israel. Pest Control, a hardcore band from Leeds, had already announced their decision to withdraw from the festival. The group stated that they had no desire to participate in an event sponsored by a bank that was profiting from genocide. Scowl left a similar statement on their social media page, while Speed used their social media accounts to announce that they would not be playing at the festival this year. Zulu also announced that they would no longer be performing at Download 2024.
The artists directed fans to the Boycott Barclays campaign for further information, thanking Pest Control for bringing the matter to their attention. Scowl, who had previously pulled out of Welcome to Rockville and SXSW due to their ties to weapons firms and the US Army during the Israel-Gaza crisis, have come out against Barclays’ sponsorship of the festival. A number of bands, including CMAT, Pillow Queens, Mui Zyu, and Georgia Ruth, have also confirmed that they would be boycotting Latitude this year because of Barclays’ sponsorship.
Over 100 acts boycotted The Great Escape Festival in solidarity with Palestine due to its partnership with Barclays just recently, with criticism of the bank centering on two key issues relating to Gaza. The first point of contention was that Barclays is an investor in businesses that trade with Israel, while the second was that it provides financial services to clients whose equipment is used by the Israeli Defence Force. Ultimately, the bank highlighted that it did not directly invest in such companies but instead held shares on behalf of clients, and that arms embargos were the responsibility of individual governments rather than financial institutions.
Scowl, Speed, and Zulu are just the latest in a long line of bands and musicians that have refused to perform at events partnered with Barclays amid concerns around their connection to Israel and Palestine. A spokesperson for Barclays, however, reiterated that the bank provides critical financial services to public companies that sell defence items to NATO, and that the firm does not invest directly in such companies
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