The Great Escape festival no longer sponsored by Barclays following boycott
Over 100 acts pulled out of this year’s edition of the Brighton event over the bank’s ties to Israel.
The Great Escape Festival is no longer being sponsored by Barclays, after a boycott saw over 100 bands pull out of this year’s event over the bank’s ties to Israel.
The bank has faced criticism for holding investments in companies that supply arms to Israel. In the days and weeks leading up to the Brighton-based multi-venue festival back in May, discussion was dominated by the fact that more than 100 acts announced they were dropping out of the event in solidarity with the people of Palestine amid the ongoing war in Gaza.
Later in the summer, Latitude, Download and Isle of Wight festivals announced that they have dropped the bank as a sponsor following a mass boycott from bands. The festivals all faced a slew of acts pulling out due to their sponsorship deals with Barclays and the bank’s financial ties with Israel, with the campaign led by the Bands Boycott Barclays group.
Now, Barclays no longer appears as a sponsor on The Great Escape’s website, with the festival offering no comment to The Guardian but directing them towards the page in question, confirming the news.
Commenting on the news, Bands Boycott Barclays said: “The BDS movement uses strategic, targeted boycotts to disrupt the flow of financial support to the Israeli military — and this is yet more evidence of how this strategy works. Artists who are offered bookings for TGE 2025 can accept them in the knowledge that their music will not be used as a smokescreen for a company bankrolling genocide.”
The statement added: “HOWEVER: The status of Barclays’ partnership with other festivals is unclear. A year into the genocide, as the IDF now extends its barbaric violence into Lebanon, all artists must redouble our collective commitment to making sure the music industry isn’t sanitising the reputation of a bank that is STILL funding weapons companies supplying the IDF.
“Booking for next year’s festival season is very much underway, so we are launching a Bands Boycott Barclays PLEDGE for artists and industry professionals to take.
“The pledge is a commitment to ask, at the point of booking, whether the festival you are being booked for has any affiliation to Barclays. If so, it is your duty to decline.”
Upon the announcement of Latitude, Download and Isle of Wight’s removal of Barclays as a sponsor earlier this year, a spokesperson for the bank said: “We provide vital financial services to US, UK and European public companies that supply defence products to NATO and its allies. Barclays does not directly invest in these companies.
“The defence sector is fundamental to our national security and the UK government has been clear that supporting defence companies is compatible with ESG considerations. Decisions on the implementation of arms embargos to other nations are the job of respective elected governments.”