Northamptonshire, August 21-22, 2025 – Shambala Festival 2025 review

As we approached the ‘secret site’ in the Midlands countryside, the setting late summer sun bathed the fields in gold. The tranquil scene framed by wind turbines spinning in the distance seemed like the perfect setting for an independent, eco festival.

Yet with only 18 hours before our short trip to The Long Road, we doubted we’d have time to truly experience the 25th edition of a festival spanning four days. No worries. It turned out that Shambala Festival packed more into each day over 40 stages than most events manage over an entire long weekend. So, join us on a whistlestop tour of the delights of this legendary festival. Our Shambala Festival 2025 review takes in a green kaleidoscope of music, costumes, flash dances, talks and woodland crafts.

Shambala Festival 2025 review – Thursday, August 21, 2025: Rhythm of the night

Darkness fell and as we gravitated towards the bright lights and sick beats, the first greeting we heard was “hey macarena, aye” – the universal sign that the party had started!

We passed the welfare tent displaying a drug combinations chart, which signalled Shambala’s pragmatic approach to wellbeing and harm reduction. Safety, moderation and consideration for all are much more likely when revellers feel safe to ask for help without fearing condemnation and retaliation.

Shambala at night was evidently no straight edge festival. Very sheltered or conventional folks may have been startled by flamboyant, gender-neutral fashions and the occasional glassy-eyed grin. The rest of us saw and heard instant friendships, true diversity and the manifest joy of people feeling free to party all night while expressing themselves authentically.

We left the folk at the Fairy Love stall vibing to a mini-festival of their own making so that we could catch our first live music of the night.

Amy True

Again, conservatives and Conservatives might balk at this scene, especially when Amy True said “Sorry, I triggered myself. Free, free Palestine!” Second-hand smoke wafted past while her hype crew in the front row twirled in tutus as they chanted along. True dropped acid jazz and hip-hop along with activist allyship and a “shout out to your star signs.”

Trad Folkin’ Rocks Collective

Over to Sibín Beag which was excellently themed as an Irish pub. The band and the crowd stepped up with such energy and exuberance that it resembled the ultimate New Year’s Eve of an Irish-American’s fondest dreams.

Loose Sound + DJ Phat Sam

Next up was Loose Sound serving Afrobeat on the Back A Yard stage, near DJ Phat Sam spinning a Dario G remix at the Swingamajig stage.

Despite having sampled four performances already, it was clear that Shambala Festival was as much about the atmosphere as the music. The extravagant spaces and outfits were part of this, of course – esoteric Tim Burton-esque vibes here, fluffy tails there.

There was beauty in quiet moments too, like when a family gazed at the empty main stage, appreciating the psychedelic projection mapping.

Wolfgang Valbrun

It was already clear that the theming of Shambala’s stages was top quality, but The People’s Front Room was something else. Entering the threshold was like stepping into an oasis of calm and it’s hard to believe that it’s a temporary structure rather than a permanent, beloved venue.

Wolfgang Valbrun’s emotive soul sounds with a locked in groove and tight brass section enveloped the velvet-lined space.

Four days of curated entertainment in an opulent sanctuary like this could make for a rewarding festival in and of itself. Yet such was the scale and varied offerings of Shambala, we never did make it back there!

Performances were due to continue until 5:00 a.m. but since we’re old enough to remember Macarena and Dario G the first time round, it was time for bed. We said goodnight to a giraffe and turned in.

Shambala Festival 2025 review – Friday August 22, 2025: Green day

In the glam (and very much appreciated) press area, we pored over the jam-packed festival programme while learning about the event and its ethos. All but three of the stages were programmed by independent groups, such as Hertz So Good which was crewed, controlled and curated by under 23s to showcase young creatives.

We were advised to check out the mass wedding (valid only on the festival site and some Scottish isles – don’t ask).

The Shambala team had already married themselves on a team weekend in Wales, and considered the upcoming collective ceremony as a way of the festival renewing its vows to itself after a 25 year committed relationship.

Understandably, the organisers of a large-scale independent event would love it to have sold it out well in advance, but there was something lovely about the fact that there were a handful of tickets left. It meant that when it did sell out during the weekend itself, it was because people had been convinced to drop everything and head to the festival immediately because it was just that good.

Despite the comprehensive, quality program that smelled wonderful with excellent microcopy and even recipes, we gave up on close planning because there was just so much to do. Daylight was burning already – yoga and gong sessions been going on since 8:00 a.m.

In fact, gong lovers had a hard choice to make – there were two different workshops at 10:00 a.m. A gong clash, if you will (bear in mind that the theme of the festival was ‘pun intended!’)

We left a deep discussion about bringing grandchildren who don’t exist yet to Shambala in the future, and headed in for more Shambala experience pick-and-mix. We passed a hula-hoop exercise session, delicious breakfast options, and kids using the the old-school payphone play-phones dotted around site.

Mr Shay’s beatbox and looping workshop

First up was a beatbox and looping workshop. It was pitched at children but entertaining and informative for all.

Mr Shay demonstrated a semi-infinite loop and asked “How long does it take for that to get really annoying really quickly? That is how not to do looping…take that garbage and make something really interesting. You’re going to help me create some garbage!” Throughout the session, he called up volunteer and pro beatboxers, including Ted and Adam.

Cecilia Ndhlovu’s Zimbabwean Songs Workshop

In the tent next door, the Zimbabwean Songs Workshop finished with sincere thanks: “I thought it was going to be a mess but thank you…you’ve already given me Shambala strength.”

The audience reaction was just as emotional; people had been truly touched by the collective catharsis. After an extended hug, one participant said “I don’t know if I’m going to stop crying now.”

The Healing Meadow

We took a relaxing stroll around The Healing Meadow, where festival goers could participate in tai chi, meditation, palmistry or even yoga on a stand-up paddle board on the lake.

The Craft Area

Just one glance at The Craft Area made it clear that you could happily spend an entire day on site without seeing a single band. There was spoon carving, wood craft, glass blowing, brush making and countless other workshops.

Water marbling looked particular effective. Children were thrilled at the results of dipping carnival masks into ink swirled through water made heavy with algae; any natural item could be dyed in this way.

It’s time to admit that we’d initially been puzzled about why this was so well-known as a family-friendly festival, given the number of night-time revellers we’d seen in joyful but elevated and sometimes altered states the night before.

We finally realised that there were simply dozens of different ways to experience Shambala festival, and it was a utopian environment for creative and curious children of all ages.

Chew On This

Nearby were a series of venues holding talks, such as how to install your own solar setup for a campervan, boat or event.

The Big Phat Green Wedding

We didn’t need a watch to know that midday was approaching; the number of men and women in wedding dresses told us it was time for the Big Phat Green Wedding.

The ceremony started with genuinely moving spoken word speech. The poet and audience got misty eyed about the empathetic, Alan Watts-style words: “may the beats you stomp dance away your pain…you are integral to this place…[we’re] excited for all you will do.”

The celebrant, real-life Reverend Sam Moyo, started light-hearted by acknowledging the immense challenges we’ve faced i.e. “losing our friends due to poor wi-fi and navigation.”

After winning everyone over with humour and spectacle, Moyo quickly dove deep and sincere: “know that you are loved, you are wanted, seen and held…these occasions can easily pass us by. Enjoy the silence.”

The Wisdom of Pop with Grace Willow

As attendees stepped up to deliver 90 second wedding speeches, we had to leave the ceremony early. The clarion call had been sounded: “Backstreet’s back, alright!”

“Start channeling your inner boyband…robot that arm and go as low as your 40 year old knees will go.”

This absolute genius workshop combined a dance lesson with a TED talk-style dissection of the body language and socio-cultural impact of boybands. Grace Willow praised the progressivism of young men asking each other ‘mate, am I sexual?’ and them replying ‘yeah, yeah!’

“Well done the Backstreet Boys, what a bunch of allies!” – Grace Willow

Next up was “a little homeopathic dose” of Rihanna’s Bitch Better Have My Money as an antidote to “the world being run by absolute lunatics.”

“The leaders of the world are behaving like toddlers in grown-up suits…soft play area for you, no world leading for you!” – Grace Willow

Beans on Toast

Glastonbury regular Beans on Toast seems to have a second home at Shambala. He was greeted jubilantly for his candour as he commented on current events: “O little town of Bethlehem/the battle for Jerusalem/what would your God say?”

Another timely tune was about “data collection as an art form…we gotta worry about how we piss away [tax] money in crossing the road and treating people like idiots.”

“We’re always connected and it makes us disconnected.” – Beans on Toast

He acknowledged that he had unusually stiff competition in the early afternoon timeslot, having been repeatedly told “I was gonna come and watch you play but I’m marrying myself around the corner.”

Those who resisted the matrimonial urge were treated to Beans on Toast classics I’m Home When You Hold Me, Send Me A Bird, and The Chicken Song – a particular favourite at this vegetarian festival (sample lyrics: “they make their dead chicken taste real nice…we all know this shit’s morally wrong.”

“Songs are like jokes: if you have to explain a song, it’s probably a shit song.” – Beans on Toast

Shambolympics

It was time for a complete change of pace across the field at Shambala’s infamous Shambolympics.

Imagine if school sports day was a sardonic, innuendo-filled performance arts piece modelled after It’s A Knockout, where amateur participant put professional level time and effort into their costumes and theming.

There was a cameo from last year’s winning team, Living Laughing Loving Lesbians, who were greeted like celebrities.

“This lesbian is a pregnant lesbian which means we are soon going to have more lesbians in the world!” – MC

Since the festival’s theme for 2025 was ‘pun intended,’ there were teams like The Party Poopers and Dame Smelly Holmes.

“I’m tantalised and slightly creeped out at the same time which, fortunately, is my kink.” – MC

Each team paraded out to lengthy introduction skits. Prize for unnecessary commitment goes to the guy on crutches due to knee surgery who nonetheless threw a somersault and did the splits.

The first game/elimination event was called Simply Green. The rules were indeed simple: find the best green items in the vicinity. This task was made much easier by the fact that Friday’s colour theme was green. That’s how we ended up with the classic quote “is it just a random baby and a bin?” It was.

Other teams’ finds included a grass monster, a juvenile dinosaur, and a greenhouse.

“It’s ketamine driving the snail – these people are definitely from Bristol…Oh, it’s Sheffield!” – MC

Notably, there had been no sports to this point. This hadn’t gone unnoticed: “after a fucking hour of nonsense, we might actually get round to playing some games. It’s Slippy Whippy Rounders!”

It’s hard to stress just how many people were crowded in the full sun during a heatwave to watch this multi-hour spectacle…and this was only the first round!

Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp

After a heavy dose of Shambolympics, it almost seemed weird to be entering a dark tent to watch music, having temporarily forgotten that most festivals only offer music.

This genre Swiss band made full use of the large stage and spliced genres for the sensible folks who weren’t risking sunstroke at the height of the day.

Power Ballad Yoga

You know a festival’s got a lot to offer when you don’t even have time to stay long for Power Ballad Yoga. What were we thinking??

Led By Donkeys

It was cross-legged sitting room only for a talk by founding members of the political campaign group Led By Donkeys. Also known as an ‘accountability group,’ their origin story dated back to a post-Brexit discussion about David Cameron’s ‘chaos with Ed Miliband’ tweet.

The transient nature of social media was their initial concern: “What if this guy ever deleted this tweet?…Somebody said we should take this onto a billboard. We had a few more pints then we did nothing at all.”

When the idea eventually did come to fruition, the logistics of installing a billboard poster hit close to home: “Three metres up the ladder David Cameron’s wet, slimy face just slid off and wrapped itself round my face.”

“Shambala is full of amazing people doing amazing things” – Led By Donkeys

The pair discussed how the time had been right for such activism, both nationally and personally: “There was so much anger and political energy in the country in 2019 [about Brexit]…this monumental act of self-harm….[It was] a cathartic act for us.”

They continued to discuss increasingly large-scale activism schemes, such as renaming Michelle Mone’s super yacht to ‘Pandemic Profiteer,’ resulting in “the slowest boat chase that’s ever happened.”

“The first plan that we developed was to steal the boat. Then the legal advice came in: ‘If you ever want to see your kids again, don’t do it.'” – Led By Donkeys

The duo gave fascinating insight into the logistics involved, from low-tech to highly planned. Sometimes looking the part was sufficient – “you can get away with a lot wearing high-vis.”

Another stunt saw them filming an entire music video just to surreptitiously install projection equipment ready to ambush Liz Truss at an event several weeks later. Delightfully, she turned out to be wearing a “lettuce-coloured dress” just as a picture of a lettuce was projected behind her.

Bringing their activism up to the present day, they pulled no punches about Palestine: “if you’ve ever read any twentieth century history and thought to yourself ‘what would I do?’ you should be asking yourself that question now.”

Taking questions from the crowd, they continued: “I think people are waiting for someone else to decide what’s happening…you can’t wait for other people to take action, you have to do something yourself. Focus on what you feel like you need to do.” Even if it’s hyperlocal, such as organising a street party to help everyone get to know their community to neutralise impulses towards fascism.

They acknowledged their own privilege of “looking like we do and being able to operate in this space [meaning] what we face is nothing.” Well, “there is some risk, but we have a really good lawyer.”

“‘Please consider the donkeys and the damage you’re doing to their reputation.’

If only we were led by real donkeys!” – Led By Donkeys

They don’t only object, they have proposed solutions too – lowering the voting age, abolishing the unelected House of Lords, introducing a written constitution, and addressing concerns about immigration when there are legitimate issues.

“The Right are winning the battle of the story wars…a battle of ideas that we’re fighting about who and what we’re meant to be as a country…we welcome immigrants here when they need to be here.” – Led By Donkeys

She Drew The Gun

She Drew The Gun drew the short straw on the main stage with sound problems simultaneously affecting and truncating their set. Nonetheless, Washed In Blue sounded lovely.

The Data Mine DJ

The Data Mine venue had an intriguing approach, looking like Crystal Maze’s Future Zone crossed with Blake’s 7. There were plenty of buttons to push, miniature doorways to explore and interactive digital effects.

Somewhat underwhelmingly, the big reveal was a DJ spinning Easy Star All-Stars‘ Dub Side Of The Moon to a near empty room. Nonetheless, the space was perfect for hula hoop practice, and undoubtedly the venue would be packed and atmospheric at night.

Skating and gaming

BUMP Rollerdisco was a venue in itself, with DJs playing for anyone over the age of three who fancied trying their skill on four wheels – or sometimes luck, especially when passing the tricky bit where the railing temporarily ran out!

Next door was The Dead Pixels Retro Gaming caravan with retro games to play outside and inside.

Green Day Flashmob

Finally, fittingly, we caught the preparations for the green day’s Green Day flashmob.

A few of the spicier lyrics to Basket Case were modified to “She said it’s lack of eggs that’s bringing me down/I went to Demi Moore…” This invited collective pottery wheel mime moves, of course!

This mixture of family fun, community, music, dance, spectacle and theming was a perfect ending to our 18 hours at Shambala, capturing the essence of the festival as a whole.

Shambala Festival 2026

It’s safe to say we had severe FOMO from leaving far too early, missing out on Asian Dub Foundation, Grace Petrie, Fat Dog, talks about how to live off-grid, food cooked entirely using biogas, and a Shambala carnival.

To avoid missing on this flamboyant, fun festival next year, put Shambala Festival 2026 into your calendar now and tell your friends to do the same. It will be held over the August Bank Holiday weekend (27-30 August, 2026).

Check out musiccloseup.com for more music news, reviews and photography!