The Editors: “We are not going to play in Kazakhstan”

In relation to the ongoing war in Ukraine, the British Editors have decided to withdraw from the Park Live due to the demonstration’s links with Russia.

The Park Festival will be held on September 7, but will no longer have Editors on the lineup due to the event’s sponsorship by Russian technology company Yandex, which owns a popular search engine, Yandex Search, the Russian equivalent of Google.

Earlier this year, Dutch company Yandex, which previously owned it, announced plans to withdraw from Russia and sold the business for £4.2bn, putting it under Russian ownership.

In a statement, Editors explained the reasons for the withdrawal: “As some know, we were in talks to play at the Park Live festival in Almaty, Kazakhstan. However, having been informed about the sponsor of the event, we have decided to withdraw our participation.”

The “Munich” band continued: “We sincerely hope to return to Kazakhstan in the future, under different circumstances. Much love, Editors.”

At the moment, Park Live is still scheduled with the participation of important British artists such as Dizzee Rascal And Placebo. Other artists include The Antwoord, Tyga And Oliver Tree.

Editors’ decision to pull out of Park Live comes after boycotts of UK festivals linked to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. More than 100 artists have pulled out of the Great Escape of Brighton because of its association with Barclays, whose relationship with Israeli forces has come under scrutiny.

Other artists have boycotted the Download Festival and the Latitudealso linked to Barclays, which led the bank to sever ties with Live Nation UK. “Following discussions with artists, we have agreed with Barclays that they will withdraw from sponsoring our festivals,” Live Nation UK said.

Meanwhile, a Barclays spokesperson added: “Barclays has been asked and has agreed to suspend participation in the remaining Live Nation festivals in 2024. Barclays customers holding tickets to these festivals are not affected and their tickets remain valid.”