Live Nation and Barclays have mutually agreed that the bank will no longer participate inn Download and any Live Nation festivals in 2024. The decision was reached after band and fan protests over the bank providing financial services to defence companies supplying Israel.
Barclaycard is one of Download’s official sponsors, alongside Liquid Death, Red Bull and others. “We cannot sacrifice the principles held by this band,” Pest Control wrote, announcing their intention to withdraw, “and by the scene, we come from and represent, just for personal gain.”
British Metalcore band Ithaca joined the boycott on Tuesday evening, while Enter Shikari were one of several bands “working tirelessly” with Download over the situation.
“Following discussion with artists,” a spokesperson for Live Nation said, “we have agreed with Barclays that they will step back from sponsorship of our festivals.”
“Barclays was asked and has agreed to suspend participation in the remaining Live Nation festivals in 2024,” a spokesperson for Barclays told the Guardian. “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. 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.”
Barclays signed a five-year sponsorship deal with Live Nation in 2023. At this time, the suspension does not apply to the entire contract.
Download Festival 2024
MetalTalk Download 2024 coverage can be found at MetalTalk.net/tag/download-2024.
Download Festival 2024 will mark the second year of the festival selling out, with weekend, day and camping tickets now completely gone. The festival will reunite its incredible community of fans for a jam-packed five-day event (June 12-16).
This year’s MetalTalk team is:
Photography:
For Download 2023 coverage, visit MetalTalk.net/tag/download-2023.
For Download 2022 coverage, visit MetalTalk.net/tag/download-2022.
