Shambhala stands out from the remaining in an digital music panorama the place raves have grow to be huge enterprise.

The four-day pageant held from July 26-29 at Salmo River Ranch, a working 500-acre cattle farm within the British Columbia inside, has earned an esteemed status because the premier digital music occasion in Canada and, in some circles—all the North American continent.

A shocking setting within the distant wilderness, top-notch music, astounding manufacturing and immersive artwork, pioneering hurt discount efforts, and remarkably holistic vibes have made lifelong pageant followers out of Shambhala’s practically 20,000 yearly attendees. Many have been returning for a decade or longer.

Regardless of the various evolutions the pageant has skilled over the past 25 years, the overwhelming consensus among the many returners is that, at its core, it’s nonetheless the identical Shambhala.

Staying true to its underground roots, the pageant has remained privately owned and operated on personal land with out company sponsorship since its start as a small one-stage rave in 1998. With out Budweiser logos, bottle service, and VIP tickets, a extra genuine and down-home rave expertise emerges.

Each in essence and operation, it’s a large outside home occasion.

That occasion celebrated Shambhala’s twenty fifth birthday this yr, and the “Shambhalove” was as robust as ever. Learn EDM Maniac’s full report on Shambhala 2024 under.

Vibes: A+

Little recognized to many out-of-towners, Shambhala’s location within the BC inside is traditionally linked with hippie counterculture, courting again to the Sixties when it grew to become a hotspot for incoming draft dodgers and dope growers.

In lieu of this mass motion, the world’s arts scene and legacy of underground events go hand-in-hand with Shambhala’s start and development and have actually formed the pageant’s taste for the higher.

We had been welcomed by a number of generations of festivalgoers for whom Shambhala has grow to be a beloved custom and who proudly carry its banner. Dancing by no means wavered, neighbors all the time lent a serving to hand, and we discovered a smile on each face we met.

Along with helming festival-sanctioned occasions just like the well-known Pizza Float, attendees contributed to a downright magical pageant environment with themed group getups, hilarious totems, and even methodology comedy routines—amongst our favorites, a number of roaming geriatrics and Forest Gump out for a jog.

From the second we stepped foot on “The Farm,” we felt like part of one thing greater than ourselves, due to the love, positivity, and inclusivity of our fellow Farmily.

It’s additionally value noting that as a result of Shambhala is on personal land, police presence on the pageant is minimal. There was loads of ample employed safety, and we felt as protected as ever at a pageant.

The marathon occasion can get unfiltered, however in our expertise, all had been seen and revered by their fellow partygoers. Shambhala can also be a dry pageant.

Manufacturing: A

The permanence of Shambhala’s web site on the Salmo River Ranch permits for a few of the most original stage builds we’ve ever seen and a few of the most insane acoustics we’ve ever heard. You could be as bold as you need while you don’t should tear down the phases with every passing version.

The Pagoda, a regal seven-story temple painted white to supply a clean canvas for 3D projection mapping visuals, was washed in eye-popping shade and shape-shifting psychedelic patterns. A brand new-look Fractal Forest retained its funky appeal and livid laser blasts via the timber.

However Shambhala’s pièce de résistance is undoubtedly the Village. Bass music has lengthy had a powerful presence on the pageant, and the genre-specific stage honors this with an audiovisual expertise match for kings.

Intricately ornate carvings adorn treehouse walkways and gothic-looking spires that tower over headbangers and skankers under, the place one of many planet’s most technologically superior sound techniques blasts the perfect in dubstep and drum and bass.

Village stage administrators Jeremy Bridge and Eroca Colins are additionally the founders of PK Sound, one of many stay music trade’s main loudspeaker producers and {custom} sound system operators. Yearly, they outfit the Village with their newest and best robotic line array system, and the result’s superb.

Shambhala’s different three phases are not any joke, both. The Dwelling Room gives a waterfront vibe on the banks of the Salmo River, the AMP is the place for thumping cross-genre bass, and the Grove is a woodland escape. 

PK rigs are featured on each stage at Shambhala besides the Grove, which makes use of Funktion-One, one other heralded sound system.

Music: A

Working independently, Shambhala’s six stage administrators and their groups every curate a singular dancefloor expertise for their very own custom-built occasion paradise.

Put all of them collectively, and also you get one of the eclectic digital lineups on the North American pageant circuit. The place else can you discover Ganja White Night time, Ben UFO, and Anderson .Paak all on the identical invoice?

This yr’s headline acts additionally included enormous bass names akin to Excision, CloZee, LSDREAM, and Tipper, dynamic chart-toppers akin to Dillon Francis and San Holo, and distinctive DJ units from Disclosure, Bonobo, Chromeo.

All through the weekend, our highlights included home heroes Kyle Watson, Justin Martin, and Chris Lorenzo, face-melting experimental bass performances from AHEE, Chmura, and Zen Selekta, a riotous G-house B2B from Dr. Fresch and Destructo, and plenty of extra.

Anderson .Paak’s all-vinyl set as DJ Pee.Wee was a fab and soulful expertise. We had been stoked to catch a uncommon North American look from cutting-edge French bass artist The Caracal Mission. Home duo PINEO & LOEB introduced the vitality to the Fractal Forest on Sunday, and pageant favourite Longwalkshortdock’s electro-bass insanity was pleasant chaos.

We had a lot enjoyable diving into the native scene. Canadian artists have been instrumental to Shambhala’s development and success over the past quarter century. They deservedly shine on the pageant, comprising most of its bookings and leaving their mark with curated programming.

Chief amongst them is the Fractal Funk Jam. The beloved pageant custom hosted by Calgary home duo Smalltown DJs invitations a slew of Canadian DJs to play their greatest old-school funk data in a five-hour Sunday jam sesh within the Fractal Forest. It was a delightfully loved-up parting impression of the pageant by daylight.

Venue A-

Shambhala’s distant residence within the wilderness is really one thing to behold. Mountain views, towering old-growth cedar timber, and a serene place on the banks of the Salmo River add an unquestionable magnitude to the occasion.

It’s a residing, respiratory pageant that has advanced with the land over 25 years and leaves a lot of the world’s pure magnificence untouched. Consequently, 4 days of tenting on The Farm is a markedly rugged journey devoid of creature consolation facilities discovered at different main festivals. Uneven terrain and many strolling contributed to loads of drained legs and made the weekend a real marathon endeavor.

We emerged from the pageant as soiled and dusty as ever and ceaselessly needed to kick rocks out from underneath our toes on the dancefloor, however that’s simply a part of Shambhala’s appeal. You’re out in the course of nowhere, and everyone seems to be in it collectively.

As soon as on-site and thru safety, attendees—and their stuff—can transfer freely between the campgrounds and important venue. Many attendees custom-made their daytime Shambhala expertise with wagons, chairs, tables, and different tenting gear. We had been pleased to see that at night time, chairs had been all the time swapped for dancing footwear.

One in every of simply two phases open on day one, the AMP was packed on Thursday, however a brand new cover meant extra folks may shelter from the warmth. All through the remainder of the weekend, with extra phases to select from, we by no means had any points transferring round at or between any of the phases.

Although the venue and its services are extra DIY than polished, each man-made piece of Shambhala, from artwork items to benches and secret hideouts, has been intentionally positioned there to serve a particular objective. There are surprises round each nook.

Shambhala’s pioneering hurt discount efforts, together with on-site drug testing, overdose prevention coaching, and different security training, are second to none. Medical tents and workers had been seen and well-equipped, and several other on-site wells meant ingesting water was all the time available.

Even amid stories of a record-high variety of early-entry campers, entry to the pageant web site was fast and painless, a far cry from the 12-hour waits reported in years previous.

Total: A-

Shambhala isn’t simply one of the notable festivals we’ve been privileged sufficient to attend—its spot within the mountains is without doubt one of the distinctive locations we’ve visited full-stop. The Farm is hallowed floor, and we will’t wait to return.

Lots of at present’s festivals and digital music occasions are a mere distant cousin of the renegade raves of many years previous.

However by sticking to a successful system the place attendee expertise is paramount and remaining steadfast in its dedication to serving underground artists and creatives of every kind, Shambhala exists as a uncommon time capsule of an genuine rave vibe we thought may need been gone for good.

We anticipate that magic to proceed for one more 25 years. Comfortable birthday, Shambhala.