Future Bubblers drop out of hosting stage at The Great Escape in solidarity with Palestine

Soft Play – FKA Slaves – have dropped out of the Great Escape Festival in solidarity with Palestine.The 2024 edition of the event – which showcases new and rising artists – is currently being held across various music venues in Brighton until Saturday (May 18).The Great Escape is sponsored by Barclays, which has been a source of controversy amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza because of the bank’s financial investment in companies that supply arms to Israel with over 35,000 Palestinians killed since the October 7 attacks. Over 100 acts have now dropped out of this year’s event with Soft Play, who were due to perform at The Paris House on Saturday, becoming the latest.Posting on Instagram, they wrote: “We will not be playing at the great escape this weekend.

The Great Escape Festival 2024 line-up have pulled out of the festival with over 125 artists joining the boycott, a number of the acts have spoken to NME about their decision and showing solidarity with Palestine.The Great Escape kicked off last night (May 15), but every artist booked to play the opening party canceled their appearance at the festival, alongside more than 100 others including Picture Parlour, Miso Extra and Alfie Templeman – while Big Special will be playing but donating their fee from the festival to the Palestine Child Relief fund.Festival sponsors Barclays are accused of investing in a number of companies that supply arms to Israel, with over 35,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza since the historic conflict escalated last year, with Hamas committing the October 7 attacks. The bank also sponsors a number of other festivals, including Latitude, Download and Isle Of Wight.We've pulled out of this year's @thegreatescape due to their ongoing partnership with Barclays- who have, and still are, investing billions in arms companies involved in the genocide on Palestinians.

Big Special have shared a statement explaining why they have decided to play The Great Escape amidst the boycott.The gothic Black Country duo – comprised of Joe Hicklin and Callum Moloney – took to their official Instagram account to explain why they will go ahead with performing at this year’s edition of the Brighton-based music festival.The 2024 event – which showcases new and rising artists – is due to take place across various music venues in Brighton from today (May 15) until Saturday (18).The Great Escape is sponsored by Barclays, which has been a source of controversy amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza because of the bank’s financial investment in companies that supply arms to Israel.“We will still be performing at The great escape this week and donating our fee to the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund, of which our label will also match the donation. Here is our statement,” wrote the duo in an Instagram post.A post shared by BIG SPECIAL (@bigspecial_)“There’s been a lot of chat about The Great Escape festival recently and their sponsorship from Barclays, who are helping fund arms sales to Israel, weapons being used to commit war crimes against the Palestinian people.“A lot of bands have boycotted the event in solidarity.

Picture Parlour are the latest band to announce that they are boycotting The Great Escape this year, joining over 100 other acts that have done so.The band took to their official X/Twitter account to share that they will no longer be performing at the Brighton-based festival. “Hey guys, we have made the decision to pull out of this year’s Great Escape festival,” they began.“We will be putting on a show next month and all ticket & merch sales will be donated to charities for Palestinian relief.

Eurovision this year “until the last second”.This year’s song contest has seen multiple controversies arise in the build up to the finale, which aired last Saturday (May 11).On top of the shock disqualification of Dutch entry Joost Klein, Eurovision organisers the EBU (European Broadcasting Union) had faced significant criticism for the inclusion of Israel amidst the Israel-Palestine crisis.Additionally, there were reports of a “crisis meeting” between four countries and the EBU just hours before the finale was due to begin. These four countries were later revealed to be the United Kingdom, Portgual, Ireland, and the eventual winner of this year, Switzerland.Now, Norway’s entry Gåte have spoken to Norwegian media about their own threat to pull out.

Great Escape Festival in solidarity with Palestine, with Massive Attack also speaking out in support of the boycott.The 2024 edition of the event – which showcases new and rising artists – is due to take place across various music venues in Brighton from tomorrow (May 15) until Saturday (18).The Great Escape is sponsored by Barclays, which has been a source of controversy amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza because of the bank’s financial investment in companies that supply arms to Israel.The issue was first highlighted in a petition started by the promoter How To Catch A Pig and the band The Menstrual Cramps – which has since been signed by musicians including Kneecap, Lambrini Girls, Alfie Templeman, Lip Critic, Wunderhorse and Mary In The Junkyard.Last month, Cherym pulled out of The Great Escape as a result of the festival’s connection to Barclays, before record labels Alcopop and Big Scary Monsters joined the boycott and withdrew from the event.Dozens more acts soon followed suit, with over half the line-up demanding that The Great Escape drop its sponsorship deal with Barclays.Speaking about their decision not to play the festival, Lambrini Girls said: “We will not be appearing at The Great Escape festival this year. This is a targeted approach of a cultural boycott, considering Barclays sponsorship.“Barclays provide financial services of over £1BN pounds to companies supplying military technology and weapons to the IDF, perpetuating the horrors unfolding in Gaza.”Now, 106 artists have cancelled their scheduled appearances at The Great Escape 2024 in total – constituting approximately a quarter of the full programme.

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Eurovision entry Bambie Thug has shared an eerie cover of The Cranberries’ ‘Zombie’ and spoken out in support of Palestine ahead of this weekend’s finale.The non-binary singer will be representing Ireland at the final of the song contest in Malmö, Sweden, and has become Ireland’s first finalist since 2018. They won their place in Saturday’s final (May 11) with a performance of ‘Doomsday Blue’ at Tuesday’s (May 7) semi-finals.They have been listed as in the top 10 favourites to win the competition this year, and told NME that they are hoping to “give the best performance I can and try to connect in those three minutes to those millions of viewers”.That being said, there has been pressure on contestants, including Thug and UK representative Olly Alexander, to boycott the event in solidarity with Palestine.

Nick Cave has shared his advice with an artist who reached out, saying that they are considering boycotting The Great Escape in solidarity with Palestine.Dozens of artists who were lined up to play at the 2024 edition of the festival have now pulled out as part of a political stance. This comes as The Great Escape is sponsored by Barclays, which has been a source of controversy amid the events in Gaza because of the bank’s financial investment in companies that supply arms to Israel.Now, an artist who is booked for this year’s bill has reached out to singer, songwriter and Bad Seeds frontman Nick Cave, asking whether he would recommend showing solidarity with other artists by withdrawing from the event.“I am a musician who has been booked to play The Great Escape festival, which, as you may have heard, a number of artists are boycotting due to the sponsorship of Barclays.

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Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have kept their children out of the spotlight for much of their lives, however they did share a rather sweet photo of their son Prince Archie with his grandmother Doria Ragland as part of their Netflix docu-series back in 2022.The adorable snap, which saw Doria holding her grandson alongside daughter Meghan and son-in-law Prince Harry, has recently been unearthed again, leaving fans of the Sussexes delighted at the rare glimpse at Archie.The photo appears to have been taken just days after Archie's birth, when Doria remained close to the then family-of-three in order to offer some support to the new parents. Another snap from the same time saw Doria holding the newborn alone.The photos appear to have both been taken in Frogmore Cottage, where the Duke and Duchess of Sussex lived before relocating to Canada, from where they later moved to the US.The couple were given the property as a wedding present from the late Queen Elizabeth II, and had used it as their UK base when making returns to the country.

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