Multiple bands have dropped off the upcoming Download Festival which is scheduled to take place this weekend in Donnington Park in Leicestershire, England. At the time of this writing, Scowl, Speed, Zulu, and Pest Control have all pulled out of the festival, all of them citing the sponsorship from Barclays, a British banking firm with ties to arms companies that do business with Israel in the midst of the ongoing war in Gaza. According to Stereogum, Pest Control was the first band to announce on Instagram that they were pulling out of the festival, and then the Scowl, Speed, and Zulu—all three of which are on Flatspot Records—followed suit.
“We have made the decision to pull out of our upcoming shows at Download Festival this week (Wednesday 12th June + Sunday 16th June),” reads the statement posted by Pest Control.
“This is due to us taking part in the boycott against Barclays Bank, who are Download Festival’s payment partner and sponsor. Barclays Bank oversees billions of dollars in investments and loans to companies whose weapons and technology are are used in Israel’s onslaught against the Palestinian people. We will not take part in an event whose sponsor profits from facilitating a genocide.
“We’re sorry to anyone who was looking forward to seeing us perform. This is something we’ve been looking forward to for the best part of a year and was a big milestone for us as a band. However, we cannot sacrifice the principles held by this band and by the scene we come from and represent, just for personal gain.”
The boycott is being organized by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and the Bands Boycott Barclays campaign, the latter of which has also been working on getting bands to boycott similar festivals sponsored by Barclays, including The Great Escape and Latitude Festival.
Photo courtesy of Instagram
