Shambhala Music Festival is an annual event that stretches over a 5 day / 4 night period each year in early August. It’s advertised as only being 3 days / 3 nights, but for those that attend this festival, it’s often a much longer experience. Located on a privately owned farm nestled in the heart of Salmo, BC (near Castlegar and Nelson), the music ranges from Electronic/EDM (the many genres), Funk/Soul, Reggae/Dancehall and Hip Hop/Grime with a strong focus on Scratching/Turntablism.
This was the 19th year for the festival since its inception and to date; it still has no corporate or commercial sponsorship. It remains independently funded by the owners and family of the farm, by donations and selfless contributions of its volunteers. This creates a special and unique community that stands out as its own entity, and for the most part, separates itself from other festival and party communities found in Canada. With that being said, obviously anybody is more than welcome to join the Shambhala community, just be aware that there won’t be any beer gardens or cell-phone sponsored stages at this party.
Each stage at Shambhala is individually owned and operated by its own arranged crew of stage directors and contributors, making each stage a unique experience. The AMPhitheatre, the Pagoda, the Living Room, the Grove, the Fractal Forrest and the Village each have their own vibe, style and swagger that boast their own ambiance and character. The projections and visual lighting matched with the (at times) overwhelmingly boisterous and booming sound design of PK Sound, make for a well-rounded, world class musical experience.
I wasn’t surprised to hear Shambhala sold out of its tickets this year before they even released their official line-up. The reason behind this is a simple one that can be summed up with one word, “trust”. People trust that the Shambhala staff know what they’re doing and that those in charge of booking the musical acts are avid music lovers, who have their fingers on the pulse of what’s not only current, but what will also stir up those nostalgic feelings in the (dare I say) “older rave crowd”.
This year featured newer, sought after acts such as Sam Gellaitry, Troyboi, Truth and G. Jones (just to name a few), the festival also booked legendary, pioneering acts such as Roni Size & DJ Krust, Nightmares On Wax, Green Velvet, Felix Da Housecat and Questlove to play this year. It’s that trust in the staff making decisions that genuinely reflect the true voice of its fans and attendees, matched with the devoted, appreciative and warm-hearted community that makes up the Shambhala Music Festival that people are investing into first, with the music being secondary on the list. This is why I feel the festival was able to sell-out before a single headliner was announced.
I’ve been attending Shambhala as a media representative for the past 4 years. This year marked my first year attending the festival under the HipHopVancouver publication(my previous 3 years was under the now defunct Spliff Breaks outlet). Our crew had an amazing time capturing the festival through our lenses and these pictures are just a slight glimpse into the content we will be releasing in the coming weeks. We mainly focus on creating professional produced video pieces and this year was no different. Keep your eyes peeled for video interviews with Fort Knox 5 & Qdup, Chali 2na (Jurassic 5), A.Skillz and DeFunk, as well as a special Turntemple Jam Session video that features Z-Trip, The Gaff, Fresh Kils, Slynk, Stickybuds, Vekked, A.Skillz, DJ All Good and more.
Photos: Ronan Considine – considinephotography.com
Words: John Zee
