More artists withdraw from Latitude Festival due to partnership with Barclays
Multiple artists have now announced their plans to withdraw from this year’s edition of Latitude due to the festival’s partnership with Barclays.
Irish singer CMAT announced her decision to pull out of the festival last week, taking to Instagram to share her love for the festival and her resulting disappointment with their sponsorship choices. “I will not allow my precious work, my music, which I love so much, to get into bed with violence,” she wrote.
CMAT also stated that she had made her views clear to the festival organisers weeks in advance of her announcement, hoping that they might change sponsors. “This has not happened and it has been made clear to me that it will not happen,” she explained.
Several other artists have also announced their plans to pull out of the festival, including Irish indie rockers Pillow Queens. In an announcement shared on their Instagram, they cited a Palestine Solidarity Campaign report, which found that Barclays had increased financial ties with military companies used by Israel.
“As a band we believe that artistic spaces should be able to exist without being funded by morally corrupt investors,” they wrote, “It is for that reason that we have pulled out of Latitude Festival.”
Welsh folk artist Georgia Ruth will also withdraw from her slot at the festival due to the Barclaycard sponsorship. She used her platform to share the figures found by the PSC about Barclays’ finances, noting that they invest over £2 billion in military companies providing weapons and technology to Israel.
The most recent addition to the growing boycott is British Hong Kong artist Mui Zyu, who announced her withdrawal earlier this week. She noted that the bank appear on the BDS boycott list and emphasised the importance of the movement by stating that 37,000 people have been killed.
“As a small artist this may not have much impact on the festival,” she added, “but if others join it can.” Earlier in the year, this was proven when over 100 artists pulled out of the Brighton-based festival and conference The Great Escape, which also had a sponsorship with Barclays.
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