Barclays have suspended their sponsorship of Isle of Wight Festival following a series of protests from fans – and music acts – in relation to Barclays providing financial services to defence companies supplying Israel.
A five-year sponsorship deal between Barclays and Live Nation was agreed last year, but the suspension in 2024 will apply to all Live Nation festivals including Isle of Wight Festival, Download and Latitude.
A spokesperson for Live Nation told News OnTheWight,
“Following discussion with artists, we have agreed with Barclays that they will step back from sponsorship of our festivals.”
Victory for Bands Boycott Barclays
The protest group Bands Boycott Barclays (BBB) told The Guardian,
“This is a victory for the Palestinian-led global BDS movement. As musicians, we were horrified that our music festivals were partnered with Barclays, who are complicit in the genocide in Gaza through investment, loans and underwriting of arms companies supplying the Israeli military.”
They went on to explain that hundreds of artists have taken action this summer to make it clear that this is morally reprehensible, and BBB say they are “glad we have been heard”, adding,
“Our demand to Barclays is simple: divest from the genocide, or face further boycotts. Boycotting Barclays, also Europe’s primary funder of fossil fuels, is the minimum we can do to call for change.”
The Rainy Day Women
Last year Isle of Wight climate campaigners, The Rainy Day Women, took over bus stop posters on the Island with images of embroidered posters that called out Barclays bank, the sponsor of the Isle of Wight Festival, for being Europe’s largest fossil fuel funder and driver of climate change.
The five poster designs included the tagline ‘Stitched up by Barclays’ as a direct protest to Barclays’ sponsorship of the Isle of Wight Festival.
“Stop funding climate crisis”
Two years prior to that, Julie Hutchinson took direct action when she called on banks to ‘stop funding climate crisis’.
On the 51st anniversary of the death of Jimi Hendrix, with his track ‘House Burning Down’ blaring out, Julie smashed her cardboard Fender Stratocaster against the wall of Barclays Bank in Newport.
Source: The Guardian
