- Music
- 30 May 24
CMAT pulls out of Latitude Festival due to Barclays sponsorship, in solidarity with the Palestinian people
"I will not allow my precious work, my music, which I love so much, to get into bed with violence," CMAT's statement reads.
CMAT has announced that she is pulling out of this year's Latitude Festival, due to its "main sponsor" Barclays having "increased their financing of various companies who are supplying weapons and military technology to Israel."
She joins Pillow Queens as the latest Irish act to have pulled out of the festival.
Latitude, which returns to Henham Park in Suffolk from July 25-28, is widely regarded as one the UK's top festivals. Its 2024 headliners include Duran Duran, Kasabian, Keane and London Grammar – with other Irish acts Lankum, The Mary Wallopers and Joanne McNally also on the bill.
CMAT and Pillow Queens' announcements follow a major boycott of The Great Escape in Brighton this month, due to that festival's ties to Barclays – with over a third of acts on the line-up pulling out.
The UK-based Palestine Solidarity Campaign have urged people to boycott Barclays, claiming it is "bankrolling Israel's genocidal assault on Palestinians through its financial ties with arms companies that sell weapons to Israel."
The Bands Boycott Barclays group – made up of musicians and music industry professionals – was launched at the end of April, in an effort to "stand in solidarity with Palestine by boycotting all music festivals partnered with Barclays." As was recently reported by The Guardian, Bands Boycott Barclays' next targets are Latitude and the Isle of Wight Festival.
"I made Latitude aware of what my decision would be weeks ago," CMAT's statement reads, "but was hoping that with all of the press surrounding the brave artists who pulled out of The Great Escape festival for the same reasons, that Latitude would divest from Barclays or find another sponsor.
"This has not happened and it has been made clear to me that it will not happen," she continues. "As such I am now officially pulling out. I will not allow my precious work, my music, which I love so much, to get into bed with violence. Myself, and the entire CMAT touring crew who I love so much, refuse to be complicit in genocide."
Read CMAT's full statement on Instagram:
View this post on Instagram
CMAT released her second album, Crazymad, For Me, in October. Her upcoming summer dates include a headline show at Fairview Park in Dublin on June 13.
