Another sun has set on Shambala Festival. This year’s sold out event, which took place from 21-24 August, welcomed thousands of revellers to a quaint pocket of the Northamptonshire countryside for four days of music, mischief and, if you wandered into the right tent, mysticism. The iconic festival celebrated its 25th year with stand-out performances from the likes of Grammy-winning jazz rap acts Digable Planets, Moonchild Sanelly, Nubiyan Twist Soundsystem and many more. Shambala began in 2000 as a DIY gathering of like-minded pals, but has since grown to become an event that enjoys cult-like status from all those who…
Author: Jack Needham
The festival season may be soon coming to a close, but that doesn’t mean the work ends there. We’ve seen Brat girl summer have its second coming and Glastonbury bow out before taking its fallow year. Oasis have dominated the live music headlines, and if you’ve recently taken a walk through Manchester our collective fashion choices too. But amongst the Adidas sponsored bucket hat-mania, London’s grime elite reunited for Drake’s Wireless takeover and McFly became unlikely rock gods at Download Festival. There are many people behind the scenes that make this complicated ecosystem of revelry work. There are production teams…
Boundary Brighton Festival, taking place on 26–27 September at the city’s Stanmer Park, has relaunched its ‘Pay What You Can Afford’ initiative. From 15-22 August, 1,000 tickets are available at any price fans can afford, starting from £10. There is also a tiered rewards structure, which the festival says is “designed to support Brighton’s grassroots scene, give back to the local community, and keep the scene thriving for the young generation.”The scheme is presented in collaboration with three Brighton venues; Patterns, Volks and Quarters. Boundary Brighton will also be donating a percentage of every ticket sold, via a partnership with the non-profit organisation AudioActive, which provides mentoring work for…
Just over 25 years ago, the Danish festival Roskilde suffered a tragedy that would be unimaginable if it didn’t happen in real-time. Pearl Jam took to the stage. The crowd surged, people became trapped, wet weather hindered people’s movements, and at the of end it all, nine people died, and 26 people were injured . 25 years on, lessons are still needing to be learned. Since Roskilde’s tragic event, we’ve seen disasters at Berlin’s Love Parade, where a crowd crush killed 21 people and injured around 652 more. And in 2022, at Brixton’s O2 Academy, two people were killed during…
EXIT Festival, formerly based in Serbia, has announced a fundraiser after what it says is a result of “publicly supporting the current mass student protests in Serbia.” The festival says it has faced “fierce government pressure and complete withdrawal of over €1.5 million in public co-funding and government-controlled sponsorship,” since showing its public support for country’s student-led anti-corruption protests, which occurred after the Novi Sad station collapse in November 2024. The tragedy claimed 15 lives. The festival says its goal for the crowdfunding campaign is to “ensure the immediate stability of the festival organisation” and “protect over 100 permanent jobs”. In June,…
The 50,000 capacity UK festival Boardmasters has introduced increased safety and crowd management measures for its 2025 event. The new measures come after seven people were hospitalised due to crowd surges at the festival’s 2024 event. The newly implemented safety features include increased high-vis patrols, additional search lanes upon entry, 24-hour support and 24/7 security coverage across all campsites. The festival also stated it is working closely with Cornwall Council, Devon and Cornwall Police and the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation. This year’s festival will bring headliners Raye, Central Cee and The Prodigy to Newquay from 6-10 August. The…
Festival-goers may be willing to give an arm and a leg to attend their favourite festival for free, but how about a kidney? That’s the proposal from Way Out West’s new initiative. The Swedish festival, who will be hosting the likes of Charli XCX, Iggy Pop, Pet Shop Boys and more, is urging music fans to apply for a free 3-day pass by signing up to the national organ donor register. Entries close on Thursday 7 August. Dubbed the ‘Kidney Pass’, the ‘first-of-its-kind’ initiative was launched in response to a decline in donor registrations across Sweden, says the festival. Those interested can register…
The 2025 UK Festival Awards, powered by Festival Insights, is officially open to all entries. The UK Festival Awards celebrates the very best of the festival industry, and in 2025 our landmark yearly event returns to Manchester on 2 December. We’ll be welcoming key figures from throughout the festival industry for a night that offers vital insight into the ever-changing festival landscape. Guests will be welcomed with a drink’s reception, a banquette style seated dinner, and most importantly the awards ceremony. Whether you’ve curated the ‘Line-up of the Year’ or championed sustainable practices, the UK Festival Awards will toast the…
While the dust is still settling on another year of Truck Festival, held in Oxfordshire from 24-27 July, the event has already been confirmed for 2026. Truck Festival will return in 2026 between 23-26 July, and super early bird tickets are available to buy from Friday 1 August. This year’s event welcomed the likes of Kasabian, Bloc Party, The Courteeners, CMAT and many more to Hill Farm, Oxfordshire. The sell-out event, self-proclaimed as being the ‘UK’s most warped village fête’, also acts as a springboard for emerging artists, hosting new acts such as Luvcat, Florence Road, Westside Cowboy, Cardinals and more.…
It’s late-July, and in what seems like a blink of the eye we’re edging ever closer to the end of the UK festival season. We’ve seen Rod Stewart earn his Glastonbury flowers, experienced the second coming of BRAT summer, and witnessed the resurgence of the bucket hat amid Oasis-mania. But while this year’s live music scene has been dominated by headline acts, there’s a gulf widening in the festival market. The Glastonburys of this world are always going to be vital cultural behemoths, but this is all while smaller festivals continue to struggle. As reported by Music Week in June,…