Country Canada Region West Kootenay Elevation 670 m (2,200 ft) Location Salmo River Ranch, Canada | Province British Columbia Regional district Central Kootenay Time zone PST (UTC-8) Dates 11 Aug – 14 Aug 2017 | |
 | ||
Similar Shambala Festival, Lightning in a Bottle, Electric Forest Festival, Symbiosis Gathering, Rifflandia Music Festival Profiles | ||
Shambhala is an annual electronic music festival held during the first week of August at the Salmo River Ranch, a 500-acre (2.0 km2) cattle ranch, in the West Kootenay mountains near Nelson, British Columbia. The festival lasts 4 days and 4 nights and offers a mix of music and art in nature.
The festival began in 1996 and has grown to become the largest and one of the longest running electronic music events in Canada. Since the beginning, it has been a family-run event and has never accepted any corporate sponsorship. In the summer months, the ranch becomes home to volunteers & event staff who contribute to repairing and adding onto the many permanent structures on site.
It has six uniquely themed stages. With the launch of the 2008 website in spring of that year, it was announced that two of the stages would be undergoing transformation. The former Portal stage, under new stage management has become The Labyrinth and Main Stage has adopted an Oriental theme with its new name, The Pagoda. As of 2013, the stage names are The Living Room, AMP (AMPhitheater) (formerly the Rock Pit/ The Jungle Pit), The Fractal Forest, The Village, The Grove (formerly The Labyrinth, The Portal, The Inner Sanctum), Nebula, and The Pagoda (formerly Main Stage).
The Summer of 2008 marked the release of the Shambhala Music Festival DVD, showing 10 years of the festival. The documentary, directed by filmmaker Malcolm Levy, looks at Shambhala's history, and "follows different characters through a year in the life of Shambhala from the perspective of DJ’s, people in charge, first aid attendants and others."
For 2011 and 2012 Shambhala has won Best Large Event at The International Breakspoll Awards.
Shambhala doesn't ask for any corporate sponsorship making the festival run solely on the volunteers. Creating the idea that the people who attend and volunteer reflect their own visions on the festival and make it what they wish it to be.
2012's Shambhala hosted ten thousand guests accompanied by 2000 workers and volunteers. Although all ages were welcome in the past participants must now be 19 or older.
