Lankum and other acts urging Latitude Festival to drop Barclays as sponsor

In a statement shared on their social media platforms this afternoon, Lankum have revealed that – ahead of next month's Latitude Festival – they "have signed a letter asking the festival to drop" Barclays as their sponsor, "due to their links with weapons firms involved in the genocide in Palestine."

The Dublin band, who are scheduled to perform on the festival's Second Stage on the Sunday, July 28, went on to note that they have "been working behind the scenes with a number of the acts scheduled to play at the festival", as they "firmly believe that collective action is the most effective action."

"Hopefully we will have more news on this soon," they concluded, before signing off the statement with "love and solidarity".

Several Irish acts – including CMAT, Pillow Queens and Thumper – have already pulled out of Latitude (which returns to Henham Park in Suffolk from July 25-28), due to its ties to Barclays.

The UK-based Palestine Solidarity Campaign have urged a boycott of Barclays, claiming it is "bankrolling Israel's genocidal assault on Palestinians through its financial ties with arms companies that sell weapons to Israel."

Today also saw the Bristol trio BEAK> – featuring Portishead's Geoff Barrow – share a similar statement, noting that they "are keeping a close eye on the situation", and that they too signed a letter "asking the festival to drop the bank".

"Hopefully it will resolve in a positive outcome where we don't have to pull out," BEAK> continued. "But if Latitude refuse to do so then we will be forced to pull out."

The Mary Wallopers, who are also on the Latitude line-up, have expressed their support for Lankum's statement – resharing it on their Instagram Stories, and writing: "For anyone wondering, same situation here at Wallopers HQ"

Read Lankum's statement in full below:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by LANKUM (@lankumdublin)