It’s been 25 years since Shambala Festival first made itself known to the world.
Like most festivals, it started with a group of mates who wanted to throw a massive rave. In Shambala’s case, this started with student house parties (probably without the landlord’s knowledge), and with a massive sound system in tow spread through the Welsh valleys.
For a brief moment, the Shambala story was something quite unremarkable. Post-university, this group of newly retired students were disillusioned, skint, and needed a job but didn’t really want one. That’s when they pooled their resources and created Jibbering Records, a slightly ramshackle yet beautifully endearing record shop and creative space.
What started with Jibbering Records became a summer festival. That worked out well, so they returned the next year. Then the next. And in an instant, well, 25 years later, Shambala keeps on keeping on.
The Northamptonshire-based festival has always remained proudly independent and doesn’t rely on corporate shareholders. It acts as a platform for political and social change, whether through hosting a diverse range of voices to its stages or self-expression in its festival-goers. In essence, Shambala answers to nobody, something that’s becoming increasingly rare.
But the festival is also unashamedly bonkers. It’s a place where kids run around with painted faces and adults let loose once the sun goes down. There are also entire days dedicate to themed fancy dress; this year’s theme, ‘Pun Intended’, was a sight for the sore eyes in many ways. It’s diverse in both its audience and its programming, offering everything from moombahton and group meditation to, if you walk into the right tent, mysticism provided by actual wizards.
On a blue skied Friday morning, something that’s always reassuring when spending an entire weekend in a green field, we sat down with Chris Johnson, one of five who co-founded Shambala. Chris now acts as Sustainability ‘guru’ for the festival, and is also Managing Director of the Bristol-based events company Kambe Events.
Distant stages are undergoing their soundchecks, and there’s a quintessential ‘first day of the festival’ buzz in the air. The festival is sold out, something that may explain Chris’s surprisingly relaxed demeanour, and outside the tent where we’re sat is a man dressed entirely in green doing donuts on an electric bike.
It’s also undergone some behind the scenes changes, which always come with nerve-wracking challenges. “There’s always that question of whether our audience are creatures of habit, and do they value familiarity?” says Chris. “But change is always a process of really understanding what would work for everyone. And it’s been gorgeous, wonderful and reassuring to hear how excited people have been with the changes.”
Here, we speak with Chris to learn more about the ethos of Shambala, why it’s becoming vital for festivals to use their platform for change, and how to survive 25 years in the festival industry while sticking to your morals.
Festival Insights: A successful festival like Shambala can easily rest on their laurels. You sell-out every year and enjoy a dedicated audience. So what are the reasons for changing things up?
“We’ve grown very organically over these 25 years. It’s taken up all of our adult life, really. The festival has been working and we’ve got a wonderfully loyal audience, but the cost of living has bitten.
People are struggling to afford tickets, or they’re wondering whether to go to a festival or go abroad. So we were wondering, what’s the most we can do to keep this fresh and exciting and really good value.
So from an organisational point of view, we’re making sure we’re doing our absolute best to provide the best show, rather than take anything for granted.”
Festival Insights: For you, where does that need to evolve and innovate come from?
“We’re obsessive innovators. We’ve become known both in the UK and globally for sustainability practices.
We’ve been working for ten years on accessibility and inclusion, and we’ve really been ahead of the curve when it comes to disability and accessibility services. Something I’m particularly proud of this year is that we’re organisations very involved within the deaf community.
As a small, independent organisation, we can’t do everything all the time. But each year, we sit down and ask ourselves, where are the opportunities to innovate? Whether it’s creatively, environmentally, or in accessibility. We’re a moment in time. We’re not an organisation that works week in, week out. We have one shot per year, so it’s important to do more with what we have.”
Festival Insights: On a personal level, why is it important for you to do that?
“At the heart of this festival is a desire to be truly inclusive. In an increasingly chaotic and divisive world, can we provide a place of profound nourishment, as well as a respite from everyday life.
A place where you feel genuinely safe and welcome, and feel inspired. That foundation of ‘do I feel welcome as an individual?’ is where the inclusivity comes in. Everybody’s individual experience is important to us.”
Festival Insights: In 2025, do you think that festivals have a responsibility to use their platforms to influence and inspire real-world change? And how can organisers do that?
“My personal view is that every individual, every organisation, every company, has an underlying responsibility towards acting responsibly. It seems obvious that things need to move more quickly with regards to the climate crisis, but our industry definitely has a unique and vital role to play [in affecting change].
We have such a positive relationship with audiences, and the cultural industries have the opportunity to use their platform to stand for something.
We can shout about climate change, we can shout about peace, but we want to be fairly nuanced. Our theme this year for the festival was ‘peace’, and with what’s happening in Palestine and Gaza, alongside other conflicts in Sudan and Ukraine, so that obviously that’s what has decided this year’s theme. But we want to give people a respite from the world and to give them a break. It’s about finding a balance.”
Festival Insights: What are some of the challenges in sticking to your ethos of independence and no shareholder involvement?
“Since COVID, supply chain costs have risen by around 30%, and with the cost of living crisis we’ve held ticket prices for three years. The reality is that we’re a break even business, but if we were in this for profit it would not be happening. Period.
It’s more challenging to run a festival than it was pre-COVID full stop, but festivals are still thriving. We hold a culture which comes together for a moment. Behind that is a community of people who know each other, and care about what they’re doing. I’ve always thought of us [Shambala] not as event promoters, but as stewards and custodians of that. And that’s because there’s a community behind us.
We have about 37 individual venues on-site. And whether it’s techno or Irish folk music to puppeteering and immersive theatre, each one of those venues is created by someone with a community around them.
We can create the space and support them to do their thing, but it takes a community of people that we pull together to produce this festival.”
Sign up for Shambala Festival 2026 tickets here.
