Shambala released a statement at noon today confirming the much-loved festival will not take place this year, owing to the uncertainty around the coronavirus pandemic.
Organisers said proceeding any further without a government-backed insurance scheme would risk the long-term future of the event. The lack of such a scheme, which exists in other European nations and would allow events to recover costs should they be forced to cancel last minute, is a major concern throughout the industry as the summer approaches. This was also cited as a main reason for the cancellation of Bluedot Festival last week.
Shambala, which was completely sold out, have taken the decision to “wipe the slate clean” and refund all tickets without ‘rollovers’ to 2022. There’s no risk of existing ticket holders losing their spot as they’ll be given first priority at booking tickets next time around, before they’re released for general sale.
The Shambala festival site will instead be opened for three weekends of camping in late July and early August, offering: “gorgeous, spacious and creative camping weekends with food, music, activities, and more than a taste of the Shambala we know and love.”
The full statement, published on their website, reads: “Hello, Shambalans,
“We can’t quite believe that we find ourselves writing this once again but we must now sadly confirm that Shambala will not take place in 2021.
“We are absolutely heartbroken… again! We’ve been holding out as long as possible but the uncertainty of the landscape really leaves us no choice.
“As a totally independent festival, even with the amazing support you lot have shown us over the last year and the Cultural Recovery Fund grant we received, without government backed insurance a last minute cancellation would risk the very future of Shambala. That’s not a gamble we are willing to take.
“Whilst we very much hope that the various targets in the roadmap are met and restrictions are lifted in mid June, there’s still a very real possibility that social distancing measures will still be in place. With this in mind, we’ve been engaged in a somewhat nightmarish game of Tetris over the past few months trying to envisage how Shambala could work. The short answer is, it couldn’t. It just wouldn’t be Shambala.
“As ever, a huge thank you to all of you for your support, patience and positivity. We’re so, truly sorry that we won’t be able to welcome you beautiful humans back to our utopia this year but, rest assured, we will be back!
“This year, we have made the decision to wipe the slate clean and refund all tickets rather than offering rollovers. For various reasons, and for us to be in the best position to bounce back and be nimble in 2022, we need to manage it this way.”
“Current ticket holders, however, need not worry one bit about losing their spot – all current ticket holders will have tickets reserved for them to purchase next year before they go on general release, should you wish to join us (and we really hope you do!)”
Image credits:
Main: Louise Roberts
Main stage: Ania Shrimpton
People: George Harrison
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