It’s official, your Flamboyant Friday colour for 2026 is… PURPLE!
With over 6,000 votes cast, this year’s vote was a nail-bitingly close one, with our two contenders jostling for the win right up until the midnight deadline!
The final scores…
48% – YELLOW
52% – PURPLE
So, now it’s over you to start rooting through your wardrobes and hunting for charity shop treasures in shades of lavender, lilac, plum, violet, magenta, tyrian, indigo and everything in-between as we invite you to come together – our purple people – and dress from head to toe in bright, beautiful unison on Friday at Shambala 2026!
And now… just a few fun facts about this year’s colour of choice:
- Your brain reads purple as “special” – Psychologically, purple is linked to rarity, creativity, mystery and spirituality. It’s not a colour you stumble across much in nature, so our brains flag it as something a bit magical – perfect for art, fantasy and a spot of Utopian dress-up!
- It used to be worth more than gold – Tyrian purple, the OG luxury dye, was made from the mucus of… brace yourself… brightly coloured sea snails. It took around 10,000-12,000 snails to dye a single garment, which is why only emperors and royalty could afford it. Thankfully, we’ve since figured out less costly, non-animal derived ways to produce it!
- Purple didn’t exist in art… until it did – In ancient and classical paintings, purple was a rare sight because pigments were so expensive. When synthetic purple dyes were invented in the 1800s, purple exploded into fashion and art almost overnight – a creative revolution in violet.
- It’s a weird colour, scientifically – Purple doesn’t actually exist in the visible light spectrum in the same way red or blue do. Your brain makes it up when it sees red and blue wavelengths together. Magenta and purple are essentially beautiful optical illusions – a beautiful little trick your mind plays!
- It’s historically linked to both power and rebellion – Purple has dressed emperors and crowned kings, but it’s also been claimed by rebels and revolutionaries – like the Suffragettes, who wore it to symbolise dignity and justice. Same colour, radically different energy!
(Disclaimer – as with any of our themes, if this isn’t your bag, you are very welcome to completely disregard all of this nonsense and do your own thing, no rules, no pressure, just suggested silliness!)
Stay tuned for more community votes coming soon!
Huge love x