Barclays and The Great Escape Festival cut ties following artist boycott
It has been confirmed that Brighton’s The Great Escape will no longer be sponsored by Barclays following last year’s major boycott of the festival by artists. For the 2025 event, the bank will not be associated with the music festival.
Due to the bank’s ties to the ongoing conflict in Palestine, over 150 artists pulled out of the 2024 festival in Brighton. As a result of the boycott, more than a quarter of the lineup was missing when the event took place in May, with up-and-coming names like Picture Parlour, Alfie Templeman, Miso Extra and hundreds more pulling out of their set.
Reporting from on the ground, Far Out witnessed the logistical crisis this pushed the event into as ticket holders were left with few shows to attend, and unofficial events cross Brighton drew in bigger crowds than the real event.
Alongside the boycott, there was also an open letter addressed to The Great Escape, which was signed by over 1200 artists, including Idles, Squid and Massive Attack. It called for them to remove Barclays as an event sponsor, stating, “Israel continues to defy international law, ignore the United Nations calls for a ceasefire and block aid from reaching Palestinians in Gaza, including by killing aid workers. We cannot be silent. We will not be complicit in The Great Escape being a branding opportunity for Barclays.”
Seemingly the boycott and open letter putting pressure on the festival had an impact, as for the 2025 event, Barclays has been removed as a sponsor. The social media profile behind the action, called Bands Boycott Barclays and organised by The Menstrual Cramps, celebrated the news in a post that read, “CONFIRMED: Barclays is not a partner of The Great Escape 2025! BOYCOTTS WORK!”
They continued: “After hundreds of artists and music industry professionals took collective action in solidarity with Palestine this year, Barclays are no longer in any way affiliated with The Great Escape Festival!”
As a result, the 2025 event should see the festival return to its full artistic capacity, and will be able to act as a key weekend for highlighting new acts.
Barclays’ history with boycotts
Barclays sponsors several festivals. In 2024, this connection between the bank and the UK festival circuit caused many issues. Along with the boycott of The Great Escape, artists also boycotted Latitude, Download and Isle Of Wight festivals.
When the bank pulled out of Download, the news was celebrated by major names like Tom Morello, Enter Shikari and other acts on the bill.
This controversy is nothing new to the bank. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, their financial ties to apartheid in South Africa led to a major boycott of the bank, eventually resulting in them withdrawing from the country.
However, the bank has played down its links to Israel. In a statement, they said this summer: “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”.
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