Four Bands Drop Off Download Festival in Boycott

Yet another rock festival is seeing acts drop from its lineup due to sponsorship ties.

The three-day Download Festival is set to kickoff in the U.K. in Donington Park on Friday. Headliners for the fest include Queens of the Stone Age, Fall Out Boy and Avenged Sevenfold.

Why Bands Are Dropping From Download Festival

While those headliners are still set to perform during the Download Festival, multiple other acts farther down on the bill have removed themselves from the lineup after discovering Barclays is one of the main sponsors of the event.

The London-based Barclays is a bank that Stereogum says has “strong ties to arms companies that sell weapons to Israel.”

At the time of this report, at least four bands have dropped from Download Festival’s schedule.

Who Is Now Longer Playing Download Festival?

This will be the third festival Scowl have removed themselves from this year due to sponsors.

The California hardcore band dropped out of both Welcome to Rockville in May and South by Southwest in March after discovering the events were sponsored by the U.S. Army. In all, a reported 80 musicians and panelists decided not to participate in this year’s South by Southwest in Austin.

READ MORE: Scowl Drop Out of Second Fest Due To Army Sponsorship

In addition to Scowl, Australian hardcore punk band Speed also have removed themselves from Download Festival.

In addition to dropping out of the fest, Speed also is donating a portion of its ticket sales to assist Palestinian refugees.

Thrash act Pest Control was among the first names to be removed from the Download Festival lineup after posting a lengthy explanation on Instagram.

“We cannot sacrifice the principles held by this band and by the scene we come from and represent, just for personal gain,” the band said on social media.

Hardcore band ZULU took a similar approach using Instagram to reach fans about why they would no longer be playing the festival.

All four acts are now set to play a last-minute Palestine benefit show in Birmingham on Friday.

What This Means For Festivals Moving Forward

In addition to sharing their motivation from dropping out of Download Festival, the bands also tagged social media accounts for Bands Boycott Barclays. The group has been vocal about festivals with sponsorship ties to the bank.

More than 100 acts dropped from the Great Escape festival in England earlier this year following the group’s pleas to boycott the even due to Barclays’ involvement.

Other upcoming European festivals called out by Bands Boycott Barclays include Isle of Wight Festival, Camp Bestival and Latitude.

While the push for acts to drop due to sponsorships has made festival organizers scramble to adjust their schedule, none of the cancellations have seemed to have a massive effect on the events. In fact, some artists have spoken out against those who have cancelled festival dates.

Falling in Reverse’s Ronnie Radke took to social media to call Scowl and Speed “fucking poseurs” for dropping out of Download Festival.

“You’re not real punk and you’ll checked at a show if I ever see you,” Radke said in a video that has since been removed from X (formerly Twitter).