Employee-owned Shambala to become the first UK music festival of its kind
And the line-up is pretty interesting, too
Shambala has been around since 2000, and this year it's making the bold move of becoming the UK’s first employee-owned music festival.
What does this mean in practice? The festival founders — a team of five men including managing director Chris Johnson — are stepping back and letting an Employee Ownership Trust take over.
Thirteen staff members are named in the festival’s blog post on the topic.
“All of us at Shambala have an emotional stake in what we have built over 25 years; now everyone has an ownership stake. We would be nothing without our people, and they deserve to carry on the Shambala legacy as beneficiaries,” says Johnson.
The aim is to eventually take over from the founding five entirely, or “telling them to turn their radios off, kick back, cut loose and enjoy the party,” as the festival’s marketing director Beck Whiteley puts it.
Shambala takes place between August 27th and August 30th this year, at Kelmarsh Hall and Gardens in Northampton.
What's happening at Shambala 2026?
It’s a relatively small 15,000 capacity festival but, much like End of the Road or Green Man, punches well above its weight in terms of what it packs into the site.
It comprises music, workshops, poetry events, talks, cabaret acts and more, across a large number of small and medium size stages.
Some of the more notable bits in 2026 include sets from Bob Vylan, Los Bitchos and Reggie Watts, and a talk with Green Party leader Zack Polanski.
“Shambala stands for independence and, in an increasingly commercialised festival scene, we simply could not sell to venture capitalists or the big promotion companies. While exploring alternative paths, we fell in love with the Employee Ownership model,” says Johnson.
Consistent with the festival’s more ethics-led approach, all food at the festival is meat-free and it’s against single-use plastics so you’re encouraged to bring your own bottle into the site for water refills (which are free).
Tickets for the festival are still available, at £305.63 including booking fee, or £264.23 if you use a “green travel” method. That means arriving by coach, the train station shuttle bus or bike — via a Red Fox Cycle Tour.
Sunday Day tickets are also available for locals, at £77.93 for adults.
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