There’s a LOT to digest, with over 30 venues, not counting the various nooks, crannies, microvenues, and the not-so-secret-secret-jazz-and-ska-bars) so pop the kettle on and settle in!
If all this has you desperate to join the party, don’t leave it too late – you lot have been super keen this month and tickets are running very low, so bag your spot now to avoid disappointment. We can not WAIT to welcome you lot home.
Bag one of the remaining tickets, here, while you can 👀
KICKING THINGS OFF WITH YOUR MUSIC LINE UP, A-Z, BY VENUE!
Behold, the sounds of your Summer! A huge shout out to our music team and incredible family of venue managers and bookers, for pulling this out of the bag.
As ever, Shambala’s musical offering is all about creating a unique soundtrack to your weekend that you simply won’t find elsewhere 💖 in fact, a study last year found us to be the top small UK festival for booking new acts.
Posters below, but you can also head here to check out all the music on offer at Shambala this year, in more detail!
…and make sure you get a head start on unearthing the musical gems you simply can’t miss, by checking out our updated 2024 Spotify playlist, right here.
FIRST UP: THE SHAMBALA STAGE, SOLASTA & SANKOFA’S…
ROOTS CORNER, THE ENCHANTED WOODS, PHANTOM LAUNDRY & SQUATTER’S TIGHTS…
HOUSE PARTY, DATA MINE, COMPASS PRESENTS & SWINGAMAJIG…
REFLEX, BACK A YARD, REBEL SOUL & HERTZ SO GOOD…
AND FINALLY, AMNIOTHÈQUE, THE PLEASURE PARLOUR & PEOPLE’S FRONT ROOM!
…AND THERE’S SO MUCH MORE TO BE DISCOVERED 💃
Any Shambala stalwart will tell you, there’s an awful lot more going on than music. The amount of workshops, talks, debates, games and abject nonsense occurring across our site is pretty wild for a festival of our size – so make sure you check out all our amazing non-music venues and line ups too.. such as:
THE IMAGINARIUM – A PLACE TO COME TOGETHER, DEBATE & EXCHANGE IDEAS
Get cosy in this cerebral gem of a venue, and soak up delights such as:
- A spellbinding session with the team behind the hit podcast series WITCH, from BBC Radio 4.
- Discover the funny side of climate change (no, really…) with Stuart Goldsmith’s Big Fat Climate Crisis stand up show
- Discuss the political/social/cultural background to the new wave of UK Jazz, with André Marmot & K.O.G
- Meet the wildlife filmmakers behind ‘Queens’ – the first-ever wildlife series focused solely on female matriarchal species – and produced by a female-led team.
…and that’s barely scratching the surface, check the full Imaginarium line up here.
LIMBER UP & SHOW US WHAT YA GOT, AT THE DANCE WORKSHOP PAGODA…
THE place for moments of collective, synchronised joy – with gems such as:
- Combining classic punk culture with a banging workout, to a blistering playlist or new and old punk and ska – it’s Punk Aerobics!
- Let Grace Willow take you on a trip to Barbie Land – cheerleading style. Shake those pom poms and remember – you are Kenough.
- Join 2BQ for a House Dance workshop – a descendant of disco that evolved in the NY & Chicago 1980s club scene.
Peep the full Dance Workshops line up, here.
LIGHT A FIRE IN YOUR BELLY, AT REBEL SOUL, WHERE LEARNING AND JOY IS A RADICAL ACT.
By night, Rebel Soul serve up folk, punk and banging techno/house/electro – but by day, this is the place to hear from some of the most inspiring, radical activists of our time. Here’s just a smattering of what to expect:
- Join the Palestine Solidarity Campaign for a talk on international solidarity, and how the fight for Palestinian freedom is a fight for climate justice.
- Discover the many, glorious intersections of queerness and fungi – with Be More Mushroom!
- Explore ideas of of collapse and solidarity from a disabled perspective, with Jess Thom (TourettesHero) & activist researcher Anna Landre.
Delve into the full Rebel Soul line up here.
ENTER A WORLD WHERE THE PUPPETS PULL THE STRINGS…
Ah, The Puppet Parlour. Expect beautifully touching and bewitching puppetry by day and twisted vaudeville cabaret by night. This year’s line up includes:
- Pop-Up Puppet Cinema invite you Back To The Future for a condensed puppet parody of a cinematic classic.
- Monsters aren’t really scary – they just want somebody to dance with! Make your own Monster before bringing it along to the Monster Disco!
- If ooky spooky blood, guts and gore is your bag, Horror Hour calls! Puppets and horror – what’s not to like? LITERALLY NOTHING.
Find the full Puppet Parlour line up, right here.
FIND SANCTUARY & STILLNESS IN OUR BELOVED HEALING MEADOWS.
Far from the madding crowds, awaits a calming oasis, for those who wish to balance exuberent silliness with stillness. As ever, our yoga, tai chi and meditation line up is packed to the rafters. Here are but a few particularly lovely offerings:
- Dolly Parton Yoga. Self explanatory, utterly joyful.
- Learn to fly, with our AcroYoga workshops. No flying experience (or partner) required.
- Did you know laughing is exercising? Explore the benefits of hearty chuckling and spontaneous laughter with Fran’s Laughter Yoga workshop.
- …and just generally, an unimaginably wide range of Tai Chi, Yoga, Meditation and Mindfulness workshops – check out the whole shebang here.
SHAMBALA FAMILIES, YOU ARE SPOILT FOR CHOICE!
If you’re bringing the kids along this year, you’re in for a treat – the only issue is how you’ll fit it all in! Whilst there’s family friendly activities and workshops happening across the site, here are some of our dedicated family spaces, full of fun, play and creativity:
- Playtopia – our kids field, built by boffins and populated by all sorts of strange creatures, from a real talking robot, to Super Pirates and Mr Pineapple head. Expect giant inflatables, giant bubbles and GIANT fun – find out more here.
- The Borogrove – A woodland Adventure Playground for children and accompanying adults. Activities include:
- Woodland Tribe – If you go down to the woods today you’re in for a big surprise! Woodland Tribe are back at Shambala once again. Combining the best ideas from adventure playgrounds in Copenhagen, Berlin and Tokyo, this is a chance for intrepid little Shambalans to live the dream – building their own adventure playground! Here, children can use hammers, nails and saws to build treehouses, bridges, forts and dens.
- Monkey Do – A series of giant nets suspended high above the forest floor. Climb, jump, bounce and swing – this is your chance to experience the woods like a monkey might do.
- Regulation Station – featuring nets, hammocks, accessible swings and a yurt full of hay bales, this is a safe space for children to swing, hang, bounce, squeeze, rest, take a breather and prepare to rejoin the fun! Staffed by experienced playworkers, this is a designated quiet space for up to a maximum of 5 children (and their adults) at a time.
- Also to be found deep in the Borogrove: family tuck shop, traditional forest skills, Zip wire, rope swings, campfire cooking
- The Family Yurt – A cosy hub in the family campsite, that providing a gentle, song-singing, bum-wiggling, fun-loving programme of activities that bring a sense of rhythm and familiarity for our littlest Shambalans on their festival adventure. From Rub-a-dub-tubs to cocoa and bedtime stories – check their full listings here.
WINDY VAN HOOTENS: THE ROAR OF THE GREASEPAINT! THE SMELL OF THE CROWD!
Roll up, roll up to Windy Van Hooten’s, our 600 seater big top – home to the very best of circus, dance, jaw dropping physical theatre and heart-in-your-mouth acrobatics. Heres what they’ve got for ya, in 2024:
- Open Beta: A circus show created by Artificial Intelligence, in collaboration with humans. High stakes acrobatics, dance, aerial plus a flame thrower and a mirror suit. Oh and a dinosaur.
- Step into the extraordinary world of Lavrak Circus’ Re/SISTA – where the stage ignites with the flames of reclamation and the spirit of sisterhood soars high above.
- Where do I Sit? is a 4 woman vibrant cabaret-style celebration of strong disabled and able-bodied women. Expect Aerial Acrobatics, high-energy African Dance, powerful Poetry, and audience participation.
Find out more about these shows, here.
PINKY PROMISE PROUDLY PRESENT THE PLEASURE PARLOUR…
This beautiful boudoir welcomes all those who believe sensuality should be celebrated rather than censored. Expect incredible workshops by day, and cabaret, performance and Afro-infused Electronica, by night. Here’s a tantalising selection of the sort of thing you can expect..
- Learn How to Make Love like a Victorian. A workshop exploring the fabulous victorian art of being filthy in private and prudish in public.
- Slow Speed Dating. A sweet and nurturing experience, where your imperfections are celebrated and your prejudices challenged. Turn up alone, end up in love!
- The Pinky Promise Cabaret Show – a roaring, alluring, erotic display featuring drag performances, burlesque, pole dancers, singers & circus extraordinaires…
Dig deeper into the full Pleasure Parlour line up, here.
NB: As you can imagine, there’s a fair amount of adult content in this venue, that’s not suitable for little eyes and ears… so do NOT confuse this venue with The Puppet Parlour(!)
SHAMBOLYMPICS – THE MOST BIZARRE ATHLETIC MEET OF YOUR LIFE.
You can’t get enough of them, and quite frankly, neither can we… Expect the unexpected, but also, expect this:
- The Shambolympic Championships – Monsieur Le Bon Bon & co will be putting teams of Shambalans through their paces, in human dressage, diving, drag relay races and more before crowning our Shambolympic champions! Has your team applied yet?! You can do so HERE.
- Disco Dodgeball – The ultimate amalgamation of the greatest sport in the world with arguably the greatest music. Win or lose, Disco is always victorious, so party like a champion with all of your fellow ballers.
- Mass Musical Benches – A revamped childhood classic for adults who still know how to have fun. Spontaneous dance offs, surprise bonus rounds and surrealist narratives as we battle to find the most victorious bench bottom of 2024!
WELCOME, SHAMBALANS, TO HEAVEN ON EARTH…
Whilst billionaires smash-and-grab on a planetary scale and escape their crime scenes in weird phallic-shaped rockets, let’s get set to make heaven on earth without them.
With programming split across The Thrive All School, The Community Garden, The Cottagecore Kitchen & The Sustainabubble, expect brain-tickling talks and workshops, such as:
- SpyCops Uncovered – Hear first-hand from campaigners affected by the #spycops scandal, and how they are fighting back against this huge corruption of our democracy.
- Join Ubuntu Food for an immersive cooking demo that celebrates seasonality, storytelling and the ancient ceremony of bringing people together around good food from the fire.
- Mend your clothes – mend the planet! Bring along your holey socks, jeans etc and learn to darn and patch beautiful, visible amends using natural materials.
- The Shambala Wassail, an ancient ceremony to ward off evil spirits and welcome the nice ones. Traditional rituals, the knighting of a Wassail King and Queen,, fun with fire and general mead-soaked merrymaking.
THE ENCHANTED WOODS: MIND-BENDING ART, PERFORMANCE & WORKSHOPS.
There’s a whole heap of musical treats happening in the woods (see line up poster) but it’s also home to all manner of deliciously weird art installations and oddities, workshops, immersive games and perfomances, such as:
- Join your favourite OTTER characters and embark on the ultimate OTTER’s Creator Quest: a unique adventure in black and white, that might very well lead you to a full multi-colour universe…
- Merkin’ Makin’ – Strike back against the trend for hairlessness and reclaim your right to be hairy! Join us for a hairylarious time making merkins.
- Find the Wordbox Birdboxes nesting in the trees among the pixie shacks and fairy houses, and discover an interactive poetry trail.
- *That* Dancing Fountain, that you’re all quite rightly so obsessed with, is back, baaaby.
Get lost in The Enchanted Woods’ 2024 offering, here.
COMPASS PRESENTS … COMPASS SANDS – A CLASSIC SEASIDE BALLROOM WITH A TWIST.
Sunbathe in an ambience of seagull, then slink into the velvet womb of a classic seaside ballroom and waltz your way through interactive excellence. As well as all manner of musical gubbins, as per our line music up poster, expect the likes of:
- Fashion Haus: Turn trash into treasure and strut your stuff on the unway to booty-bouncing 90s, queerdo grooves. Trashion’s the new Fashion, dahling. Get into it.
- DJ Babiest Baby presents Happy Hardcore Aerobics – challenging, fun and silly dance routines to heart-pumping hardcore classics.
- Animation workshops – travel back to Victorian times with a fun-for-all-the-family experience, creating animations that come to life with every spin.
- Join award-winning clown, high-priestess and professional show-off, Lucy Hopkins, for the silliest collective act of manifestation imaginable…
Check the full Compass line up, here.
GET YOUR HANDS DIRTY IN THE CRAFT AREA…
The satisfaction a person gets from using their own hands and creativity to fashion objects is second to none – it soothes the soul and feeds the mind, so take a bimble down to The Craft Area and get stuck in! We have HEAPS of workshops on offer, from glass blowing to Turkish marbling, blacksmithing, willow weaving, metalwork, felting, woodworking, crochet and ceramics!
Check out the 2024 craft workshops, here.
DISASPORA! MUSIC & VOICE WORKSHOPS IN THE HARMONY & MELODY YURTS…
Diverse Artists Network presents Diaspora!: A series of incredible music and voice workshops, taking place in the Harmony Yurt & Melody Yurt – such as….
- Folk Songs of the Celts with Ríoghnach Connolly. Sing songs of Migration & Murder in Irish, Scottish, Welsh and English with The Breath & Honeyfeet’s very own Ríoghnach!
- Sea Shanties with Swingletee: A LEGENDARY workshop! Head for the high seas where Poseidons best bellowers are waiting to guide you through myth/legend/spurious fact on a full rigged ship powered by song.
- Join us for an electrifying West African percussion workshop with Amadou Diagne, a renowned Senegalese musician, multi-instrumentalist and griot.
Check the full Harmony Yurt and Melody Yurt line ups, here!
RIMSKI & HANDKERCHIEF’S TRAVELLING HOMESTEAD STAGE…
A surreal haven of invention, in a secluded woodland corner. Join these two musical misfits, on a hilarious and theatrical ride, as they navigate the peculiar ins and unexpected outs of Rimski’s Yard. With variety entertainment, including:
- The famous Bicycle Piano & Double Bassicle!
- Once but a sound system in a wheelbarrow, Acid House Therapy has grown into a live, immersive electronic music act. A heady mix of spiritual epiphany, audience participation and a free party in a forest…
- Mr Vast – A one-man show that resists easy definitions: a slapstick cabaret, a surrealist happening, an avant-garde concert, a tragicomic carnival, an ecstatic ritual….
With heaps more oddities and special guests to be discovered…
PHANTOM LAUNDRY: POETRY, SPOKEN WORD, LIVE MUSIC & VINYL…
The Phantom Laundry team has been searching far and wide throughout the year to bring you the very best in poetry, spoken word, live music and fine vinyl from across the UK and beyond. Bands, DJs and hip-hop acts aside, here’s a smattering of their dazzling 2024 poetry and spoken word offering:
- Ready to unleash your inner beast? Then join us at Phantom Laundry on Saturday morning for our sixth annual Monster Rap Battle Workshop.
- Roger Robinson – What a treat to have a poetry performance and Q&A with Roger – globally renowned poet, winner of the T.S. Eliot Prize & RSL Ondaatje Prize, and named by Decibel as 1 of 50 writers who have influenced the Black-British writing canon.
- Spork! Poetry Takeover: Feat stand-up poet Chris White, Bard of Exeter & punch poet Ceri Baker & theatre maker/writer Shaday Barrowes-Bayewunmi. (+ guest slot from Sam Staines!) Silly shanties, lusty limericks, bad puns, great poems, laughs, tears & screams.
- Natural Born Storytellers: True stories that are life-affirming, shocking, captivating or plain hilarious – and all absolutely true. Laugh, cry, cringe, laugh a bit more
Check their full line up, here.
PREPARE FOR THE VOYAGE OF A LIFETIME, ON THE SS WAIT BRITAIN!
The open sea awaits the imminent departure of Waiting Room Cruises’ flagship ship…The S.S. Wait Britain! *Expect seasickness & delays! All departures weather permitting & subject to ongoing trouble in the engine room.*
- Their ears have been locked to the shipping forecast, the bar has been stocked with tiny umbrellas, and the seagull poo scrubbed off the sun loungers, and our delightfully eclectic Cruise Crew have been ironing their neckerchiefs, ready to begin their training the moment you arrive.
- This ultra-exclusive cruise excludes no one. Honeymooners, gamblers, upper and lower deck occupiers, drinkers, dancers, babies, lone travellers and rowers. What unites us all, passengers and crew alike, are the dreams we sail towards. And seasickness.
- Onboard entertainment? They have under-rehearsed, over-confident acts bursting from our portholes. And if all else fails, there’s always the Macarena.
RED SEA TRAVEL AGENCY: TAKE A WEEKEND TRIP AWAY WITH THE MONTHLIES:
The Red Sea Travel Agency was once the UK’s first festival menstrual space, and has sparked much needed change across the industry when it comes to provision for menstruators – which is bloody brilliant. As well as a calm and comfy space with hot water bottles, teas, eye masks and loos with sinks to clean your menstrual cup, it’s also home to all manner of brilliant workshops and talks – such as:
- Leanne Shorley’s interactive spoken word and comedy workshop exploring the highs & lows of surfing the crimson wave through humour, storytelling & performance poetry.
- PERIOD PARTY! Get ready to groove to the beats, flaunt your finest threads, and celebrate your menstrual journey.
- Sexuality at menopause and beyond. A safe space for perimenopausal, menopausal and postmenopausal people – if you’re asking yourself questions like ‘Where has my libido gone?’ ‘Why does sex hurt now?’ or ‘What’s going on down there?’, this workshop is for you.
Peep the full Red Sea Travel line up, here.
RANDOM WORKSHOPS: THE BIZARRE, THE OBSCURE, THE NAUGHTY & THE NICE!
The devil makes work for idle thumbs, so head to the Random Workshop tent to keep yours out of trouble, with activities such as..
- Rave choir! Love 90’s classics? Snackers, Baby G and Lez are back once again, to help you master a rave anthem! Pay close attention and they will take you through to another dimension.
- Teddybear Taxidermy – Come along to create your own fantastic, bizarre and absolutely loveable, festival friend, to help you through the return to reality and keep Shambala with you
- Sunday Supplement Cock Drawing Club. You know the drill. We give you the Sunday papers, you draw magnificently realistic cocks all over them, because you’re all proper grown ups.
Check the rest of the Random Workshops line up, here.
GET WILD & FREE, IN THE CARNIVAL WORKSHOPS TENT…
Forgot to alpaca a costume? No-eye-deer what to wear?
Paws for a minute take a walk on the wildside to the carnival tent. We’ve got koalafications to bring you out of your shell. You’ll leave their tent feline fine to gopher a dance at the carnival!
Check the Carnival Workshops programme here, ahead of the Wild & Free Carnival on Saturday afternoon (check our costume inspiration board, here)
DON’T FORGET TO PRE-ORDER YOUR PRINTED PROGRAMMES!
Don’t forget to pre-order your printed programmes, if you want it posted out to you in early August, ahead of the festival, in time for you to get planning!
As usual, we’ll also be offering our Shambala phone app (which will be updated with 2024’s timings and listings closer to the event) – but if you’re the sort who like your festivals to be a break from your mobile phone, or don’t want to faff about keeping your phone charged (or just like a beautiful souvenir for your bookshelf!) the printed programme is for you!
These books are packed with listings so you know exactly what’s on where, as well as heaps of exlusive programme-only content, from recipes to top tips, behind the scenes sneak peeks, musings from HQ and all manner of extra gubbins and silliness.
We’re printing less of these than usual, so if you’re keen, we recommend pre-ordering! We’ll be selling what’s left, on site, once we’ve posted the pre-orders out, whilst stocks last. Likewise, if you don’t want the paper programme to disappear altogether in future years, do make sure you buy one this year, otherwise we may need to retire ’em and go app-only…
THANK YOU, YOU BEAUTIES!
We hope you enjoy exploring our 2024 line up – and if you haven’t already, don’t forget to bag yourself one of the final tickets for Shambala 2024, right here.
With SO much love, from Sham HQ x