Shambhala 2014: Making A Festival Like Home PT.1

Shambhala: Making A Festival Like Home PT.1

The Village Stage. Photo Credit Bryce Duffy

The music festival has become a summer tradition to some. People go for a wide variety of reasons. It may be the the escapism it provides to those looking to take a break from their day to day lives. To others the music festival has become much more. The nickname that Shambhala has been given is 'home' or more affectionately as “the farm”. It is of course on a farm. You can tell that many who make the pilgrimage to the Salmo River Ranch that it is their second home.

The intention of the guests of Shambhala is what differentiates this festival from the multitude of others. Its rare to attend a festival where most guests have such self awareness about what they wish to get out of the experience. Attendees actually care about one another and if you sit down for too long (i’m getting older) they will ask if you are ok.

The Production Of Shambhala

From start to finish there is not much you can complain about the organization and consideration for the attendee. Here's my top 5 most important aspects of a festival and how Shambhala scored.

1. Porta Potties.

One of the worst things is when the body is calling and you run to a porta-potty and there's a massive line up, a terrible stench and no toilet paper. This can interrupt your festival experience. Should you choose not to evacuate your system and keep it locked down for the long haul you are not going to be break-dancing when your favorite tune comes on. Well this was not my experience at Shambhala. The line up was bearable, great ventilation (a little cool breeze blowing) and there was always toilet paper.

2. Food & Coffee

Of all the things we require as humans food and caffeine are on the top of the list. While some festivals can lack in their food and coffee offerings, Shambhala excels in this field. With most of their food coming from local sources all the food was fresh. Not being the most savvy camper I found myself gorging on amazing wraps and smoothies daily. The lattes were rich and creamy and when I was feeling like I needed a real boost the espresso shots had that delicate layer of crema on top to soften the bitterness.

3. Traffic Flow

Living Room Stage. Photo Credit Bryce Duffy

Getting around a festival can be a pain. Especially when you have a schedule of artists you'd like to see and there is overlap. Navigating your way around Shambhala is a breeze once you've acclimatized yourself to the area during the day. This is a pretty important thing to do once you are settled in to get your handle on the landscape. Traversing from one end to the other could be done in 10 minutes if need be. I’m talking about stages here, not the whole festival.

4. Stage layout

Now here is where Shambhala really excels. Having the benefit of building upon previous years the stages are well thought out. If you don't have the need to be in the center of the crowd there were always great vantage points to see your favorite acts perform. This is something The Village stage has perfected as the have a multilevel platform that surrounds the main dance area that gives you a raised perspective of the stage. This allowed those who wished to watch instead of mosh an opportunity to enjoy the show. The Living Room stage is located near the river and has a couch near the front right of the stage. This is where you would have found me during Mr. Scruffs deeply eclectic daytime set.

5. The Crowd

Photo Credit Shawn Fillion

Here is a remarkable aspect to Shambhala. Everyone gets along. I found it quite unbelievable how well the multitude of demographics get along. The environment and tone of the festival almost calms the crowd as they enter the farm. There are some attendees that seem to never leave the village stage as that is their home within a home. Others move freely from stage to stage without concern for who’s playing, just for the experience. When a festival becomes something more that just a showcase for artists but a place where people are receptive to anything, that is a transcendental experience.

Wrapping Up

In this bottomless pit of music festivals that are popping up everywhere how do you differentiate yourself amidst the crowd. Well if you have been doing it for over 17 years and its always in the same location you have an advantage. Along with an avid following Shambhala has built upon their stages year after year. I was left a gasp at the infrastructure that has been created for this event.

Although we at dubplate are more focused on the deeper side of bass music I felt the need to experience the mythical tale of Datsik on the PK rig at The Village. I was planning on only going for 10-15 minutes just to observe the show and of course hear some extreme bass pumped through 200,000 watts! Before I could look at my watch Datsik had finished and I was in a pool of sweat with a shit eating grin on my face.

If you have the opportunity check out this amazing festival do it.
Please stay tuned for PT.2 where we talk to ill gates about his love of Shambhala and current projects.

Feel free to email me at joel@dubplate.fm with any questions or comments. Or you can just spam my twitter feed @dubplatefm @coitax