A humongous thank you to the thousands of you who took the time to fill out our Big Debate survey post-Shambala 2025. More Shambalans shared their feedback with us this year than ever before, and thanks to you we can continue to work on improving all the things that are important to our community year on year.
So, let’s get into it shall we…
A whopping 88% of you said Shambala was the best festival you attended this summer – THANK YOU!
We’ve received so much lush feedback, our hearts are bursting! Here’s some particularly golden nuggets…
“Shambala feels like a place I can truly express myself without having to worry about what others are thinking!”
“I’m going to keep attending Shambala every year. It’s the best thing I’ve done in my life so far, thank you very much for the experience, the memories and the love.”
“I really loved the new layout and the way the centre of the site has moved to be nearer Solasta and the area around House Party was really well curated in my opinion.”
“Just bloody love it… Been coming for 24 years and it just gets better and better. Thanks guys, it is my happy place, my home… and a little bit of my soul!”
“Shambala gives me hope for the world!”
“Thanks for the most unforgettable weekend! What a place, what a vibe! So full of beautiful souls, bonkers fun and magic. “
“Absolutely the best weekend ever. First time at Shambala and hands down my new favourite festival!”
“First Shambala for me. I knew it would be good, but I never could have expected it to be THAT good! My mind is blown, my heart is full, and I feel so grateful to have been part of something so special with so many incredible people. WHAT A WEEKEND!”
HELLO to the whopping 32.4% of you who came along for the first time in 2025!
It’s absolutely brilliant to see so many fresh new faces continuing to join us at Shambala, alongside over 30% of you who have been coming for five years or more!
The most important parts of Shambala…
It’s no surprise that the sense of community, friendly vibe and atmosphere is still what keeps most of you coming back year after year! So a heartfelt thank you from us, for continuing to be your joyous, kind and welcoming selves.
There was also a lot of love for our ethics, values and independence, and it’s really lush to hear that this continues to be of high importance to you.
This year we also asked which place or experience feels like the heart of Shambala to you…
The Enchanted Woods came up the most, with you lot describing its creativity and magic as central to the Shambala experience (especially once the sun goes down!).
Other frequent mentions went to The Shambolympics for their community driven silliness, Solasta as a central hub for music and big moments, The Common as the crossroads of the festival, and your individual camps where friendships and community blossom!
The soundtrack to your Shambala…
Shoutout to the legendary Queen Omega and The Royal Souls, who you voted as your number one musical act of the weekend! Honourable mentions also go to Moonchild Sanelly, Fat Dog, Thumpasaurus and DJ Yoda!
You summarised the music at Shambala in one word, and the most common answer (by far!) was eclectic – no surprises there.
We asked you which genres or sounds you’d like more of, with folk coming up as a very popular request! There were also mentions for more heavy and guitar-based genres (rock, punk, indie), as well as more to get your rave on to (jungle, dnb, house, techno)!
Only 1.1% of you said that well-known headline acts are the most important thing to you when booking tickets for a festival. Shambala’s never been about the huge headliners or big mainstream names and we put a lot of focus and energy into curating a ‘discovery-led’ lineup and programme, so we love to hear that so many of you are on the same page. In fact, over 90% of you said you really enjoy seeing acts you’ve never even heard of, with 73.7% of you using festivals as a key way to discover new music.
2025’s Favourite Venue! *Drum roll please*…
The Enchanted Woods reclaims its top spot as your favourite venue in 2025! Closely followed in second by Solasta, with The Next Stage taking third place (not bad for the new kid on the block!).
Swingamajig and The People’s Front Room also got a lot of shoutouts from you folks!
2025’s Non-Music Programming…
Surprise, surprise… The Shambolympics wins your ‘Favourite non-musical activity’ by a landslide for the gazillionth year in a row – big ups to Village Circus for delivering our annual dose of athletic carnage!
You lot had an overwhelming amount of lush things to say about The Closing Ceremony, describing it as amazing, beautiful, fantastic, brilliant, spectacular and just a generally lovely way to bring everyone together and round off another weekend well spent in Utopia.
The majority of you felt the balance of acts, venues, activities and spaces was just right this year, but we’ve also heard your calls for more circus, comedy and cabaret – we’ll see what we can do!
How was it for our smaller Shambalans…
Another brilliant year for families at Shambala, with a whopping 93.5% saying there was enough to keep the little ones entertained and a further 96.3% feeling families’ needs are well taken care of. Out of those who brought older kids, 73.4% felt there was enough to keep them entertained with their favourite bits being The Borogrove, The Craft Area, The Enchanted Woods and the music.
Over 80% of families weren’t kept up by late night noise, which is great to hear! But there was an increase in the number of families who reported their sleep being disturbed over the weekend – our apologies, we’ll aim to keep this to a minimum in 2026.
The Shambala App & Printed Programme
Almost 94% of you used the Shambala App this year, with a record breaking number of downloads! For the most part the app was really well received this year, with 68.3% of you rating it positively.
We did have a few issues with app notifications now being delivered in a timely manner, and we’ve heard your desire to bring back the clashfinder, genre filters and a more interactive map… Leave it with us!
Those of you who purchased a programme found it informative and loved having it as a keepsake! Despite making it smaller this year, a few people still found it to be too bulky so we’ll brainstorm what to do with the sizing next year.
On Site Services
Toilets & Showers
Another strong year for the loos, with the majority of you rating our Compost Loos as good or excellent! The love continued to pour in for Peequals squatting urinals too, alongside plenty of requests to have more of these around the site.
Most of you who used our showers rated them as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’, however we have had a few understandable gripes around the queues during peak times. Unlike most festivals we offer showers that are totally free to use, so to keep it financially viable for us we aren’t able to add heaps more at the moment – our top tip is to avoid peak times and shower very early doors, or late in the evening!
Bars and Booze
Service at the bars this year was rated as excellent by the majority of you, shoutout to Refresh West and their stellar team! Most of you also rated the range of products and pricing as ‘good’, which we love to hear. But there were more calls for an increase in our offering of non-alcoholic beverages.
Our water points, campsites, security and stewards were all ranked ‘excellent’ for the most part too, which is music to our ears!
Our Food Offering…
You rated our food traders incredibly well in 2025, with the majority ranking the quality and variety as ‘excellent’, and the value for money as ‘good’.
Shockingly (to absolutely no one), Dosa Deli claims the top spot as your favourite trader! With lots of you loving Pieminister, Pizza Love, The Big Arancini and Gourmet Poke too.
Those of you who are gluten-free or coeliac have mentioned you’d like more options and clearer allergen labeling, and families have requested more kid-friendly options too – we’ve passed this feedback onto our trader team to see what we can do for 2026!
Sustainable Travel Options
A massive thank you to the thousands of you who chose to come to Shambala via one of our sustainable travel options this year! While we’ve got you, remember you can still lock in a Tier 1 price on your 2026 tickets by purchasing our Green Traveller option and arriving via Coach, Train and Shuttle Bus or a Red Fox Cycle Tour.
Coach Travellers
We’re thrilled to hear that so many of you found the coach journeys smooth, well-organised and great value, with friendly staff, comfortable coaches, and even a lovely social buzz on board. Lots of you told us it was a big improvement on previous years, especially on routes from Bristol and London.
Unfortunately, some return trips were held up in the inevitable post-festival traffic, and a few of you mentioned queuing confusion, cramped seating, or the odd missing loo. We hear you, and we’re already working with our travel partners on how to improve on this for 2026.
Rail Travellers
Many of you reported having seamless, well-organised trips, especially via Market Harborough! That said, experiences weren’t the same for everyone. Some journeys, particularly via Long Buckby during peak Thursday arrivals, were affected by long shuttle waits and traffic delays. We’re looking into how we can minimise waiting times during peak periods in the future.
Thank you to everyone who was a part of our sell-out 25th anniversary show. It was so special to celebrate 25 years of fierce independence, silliness, wild creativity and radical sustainability with you, here’s to the next quarter of a century!
Big love x