Ten Years. Thousands of Flags. Over £68,000 Raised.

What started as a heartfelt response to a crisis has grown into one of the festival’s most meaningful traditions. This summer, we marked the tenth year of “Flags For…” with a fundraiser for Practical Action in Sudan – a campaign that not only hit its £8,000 target but sailed past it, thanks to your generosity.

It now feels like the perfect moment to take a look back at where it all began, and how these fluttering flags have woven themselves into the fabric of the festival.

Back in 2015, Nepal was struck by a devastating earthquake. One of our co-founders, Dan, had close ties to the country through his mum, Pam. She’d been volunteering there for years with a small charity she’d helped establish: Help Rural Nepal – focused on education and healthcare in the remote Dhading District.

The area was just a few miles from the earthquake’s epicentre, and the damage was enormous: schools, homes and the local health centre were all destroyed.

The idea was simple: raise funds for Help Rural Nepal, and for every donation, fly a traditional Nepali prayer flag at the festival – a small but visible act of solidarity, carrying good wishes on the wind.

That first “Flags For…” campaign raised over £7,000, helped rebuild the lives of those affected by the disaster, and adorned the Shambala Stage with a canopy of colour and compassion. It could have been a one-off, but the campaign struck a chord and a Shambala tradition was born. 

Each year since, a new cause has been chosen, usually in response to urgent global needs. From mental health to medical aid, child protection to climate resilience, our flags have flown for people facing some of the world’s toughest challenges, creating a striking and beautiful symbol of our support throughout the festival. 

Some highlights from the past decade include:

2016 – Temwa: providing immediate emergency food aid to communities in Malawi
2017 – In Place of War: using artistic creativity a tool for positive change
2018 – CALM: suicide prevention and mental health support
2019 – Unseen: supporting survivors of modern slavery
2022 – Peace Direct: supporting communities to rebuild lives after war has torn them apart
2023 – Flying Seagull Project: bringing joy to children in crisis
2024 – Medical Aid for Palestinians: delivering frontline healthcare
2025 – Practical Action: supporting communities facing poverty and climate change in Sudan

To date, the Shambala crowd has raised over £68,000, with every penny going directly to the chosen charities. The festival covers the full cost of sourcing, transporting and flying the flags – so donations go exactly where they’re needed.

The flags themselves are special, too. Way back in 2001, Pam used to make all our decorative festival flags herself, cutting and sewing each one by hand at her kitchen table. As the festival grew, so did the demand for flags – and during her time in Nepal she built a connection with a local flag maker in Kathmandu. That same family-run workshop has been supplying all of Shambala’s flags ever since, with most of the work being done by women who are fairly paid for their skills and time.

Although rooted in Buddhist tradition, prayer flags are also respected by Nepal’s Hindu communities. In a country where religions often share temples, they’re a symbol of peaceful coexistence – a value that resonates deeply at Shambala.

Each flag carries a printed prayer believed to carry blessings on the wind. The five colours are always arranged in the same order, each representing an element and a corresponding quality:

Blue: sky (open-mindedness)
White: air (purity, breath of life)
Red: fire (energy, passion)
Green: water (harmony, balance)
Yellow: earth (stability, fertility)

And, when their work at Shambala is done, the flags don’t go to waste. 

Many of the oldest, most weathered strings have been donated to Bristol Scrapstore, where they’ll be reused in schools, community arts and creative projects. Others have been recycled at Kelmarsh, destined to continue their journey in new forms.

A Big Thank You

To everyone who has ever donated to a “Flags For…” campaign – thank you.

These campaigns only work because of you lot – our wonderful, kind, conscious community – and we’re so grateful.

Whether you gave £5 or £50, your contribution has made a real difference. You’ve helped create one of the most quietly powerful traditions at the festival, and funded everything from essential medical care to education, play, protection and hope. 

Ten years in, the world keeps changing, but the need for action and empathy remains stronger than ever.

So we’ll keep raising the flags. You keep being brilliant.

Here’s to the next ten years of doing good – one small, fluttering flag at a time.

Huge love, 

Team Sham x