Barclays suspends sponsorship of Live Nation festivals, including Download & Latitude, following protests

After numerous artists dropped off festivals they were sponsoring, Barclays has pulled their sponsorship from all Live Nation festivals this year, The Guardian reports, including Download, Latitude, and Isle of Wight. “Following discussion with artists, we have agreed with Barclays that they will step back from sponsorship of our festivals,” a spokesperson for Live Nation said.

A spokesperson for Barclays told The Guardian, “Barclays was asked and has agreed to suspend participation in the remaining Live Nation festivals in 2024. Barclays customers who hold tickets to these festivals are not affected and their tickets remain valid. The protesters’ agenda is to have Barclays debank defence companies which is a sector we remain committed to as an essential part of keeping this country and our allies safe.”

“They have resorted to intimidating our staff, repeated vandalism of our branches and online harassment,” Barclays’ statement continues. “The only thing that this small group of activists will achieve is to weaken essential support for cultural events enjoyed by millions. It is time that leaders across politics, business, academia and the arts stand united against this.”

Bands Boycott Barclays issued a statement, which reads, “This is a victory for the Palestinian-led global BDS movement. As musicians, we were horrified that our music festivals were partnered with Barclays, who are complicit in the genocide in Gaza through investment, loans and underwriting of arms companies supplying the Israeli military. Hundreds of artists have taken action this summer to make it clear that this is morally reprehensible, and we are glad we have been heard. Our demand to Barclays is simple: divest from the genocide, or face further boycotts. Boycotting Barclays, also Europe’s primary funder of fossil fuels, is the minimum we can do to call for change.”

Dying Wish previously said they’d cancel their set at Download this weekend if Barclays remained a sponsor; in a new statement, they write, “Download has informed us that that have officially removed Barclays as a sponsor from their festival – we will be playing tomorrow as scheduled. We never wanted to let anyone down and celebrate the news that the boycott was successful. Huge thank you to everyone who was involved in making this possible. We appreciate the understanding and support as we stand by something that truly matters to us. We are so proud to be a part of a community that can come together and create change. That being said – we cannot wait to see you tomorrow at 4:40 pm on the Dogtooth stage. With love, solidarity and free Palestine forever.”

Enter Shikari also shared the news, writing that they had been “in talks with Download themselves, expressing our serious objection at Barclays involvement.”

Some of the artists who had already dropped from the Download lineup in protest, including Scowl, Zulu, Speed, and Pest Control, will play a sold out benefit show for Palestine in Birmingham tonight (6/14).

Last year, Barclays entered a five-year deal to sponsor Live Nation festivals; The Guardian reports that the current suspension of sponsorship doesn’t apply to the whole contract.