This time next week, close to 20,000 music fans will be settling in on “The Farm,” the affectionate name for Salmo River Ranch, a 500-acre cattle farm tucked along the west flank of British Columbia’s Kootenay Mountain range—and the home of Canada’s premier electronic music festival, Shambhala.
Beyond its serene location on the banks of the glacier-fed Salmo River, astounding production, pioneering harm reduction efforts, and remarkably holistic vibes, the multi-day camping affair’s 25-year history of meticulously curated musical programming has helped establish it as one of the best of its kind on the continent.
Privately owned and operated, without corporate sponsorship, since its inception as a small one-stage rave in 1998, Shambhala embraces its DIY ethos with a lineup of six independently designed, booked, and operated stages.
Helmed by the festival’s veteran stage directors, build teams, visual artists, and audio engineers, these permanent fixtures of The Farm each offer a uniquely crafted musical experience with top-notch sound to boot.
Shambhala’s silver anniversary edition, which takes place from July 26-29, will feature performances from a diverse lineup of international headliners, underground legends, rising stars, and some of the Canadian festival scene’s most esteemed electronic talents.
This one’s for the heads and the crate diggers. Read EDM Maniac’s stage-by-stage music guide to the 25th edition of Shambhala Music Festival below.
The AMP
Located adjacent to the festival’s vendor village, the AMP is the beating heart of Shambhala’s bustling “downtown” area. Hosted by longtime festival characters Def3 and Ray Black, it’s one of two stages to open early on Thursday and a crowd-favorite spot to kick off your weekend in the woods, boasting PK Sound and a shady retreat beneath its candy-striped canopy.
Don your goggles for Whistler-based duo SkiiTour’s famous Après Skii opening party, stick around for bodacious bass vibrations from AHEE, Chmura, and Tsuruda, and catch some cutting-edge drum & bass from France’s The Caracal Project and festival favorite Longwalkshortdock.
On Friday, the AMP embraces surging sounds from across the Atlantic. Expect opening sets from Kurei, Secret Recipe, Hypho, DJ co.kr, and Chef Boyarbeatz to span a range of UK-centric subgenres, from 140BPM dubstep to blistering breaks and techno. Later, UKG and bassline greats Flava D, Sammy Virji, Gentlemen’s Club, and Taiki Nulight will keep the party proper pumping until dawn.
A deep dub showcase at the AMP on Saturday will feature performances from BC’s own MYTHM, Minnesota trio Ternion Sound, Deep Dark & Dangerous label bosses Truth, and boundary-pushing experimental heavyweights like PEEKABOO, G Jones, and Eprom.
The AMP’s Sunday lineup is anchored by none other than trip-hop pioneer Tipper, who will be joined by rising experimental bass stars like Saka, Tape B, and EAZYBAKED, Dutch future bass favorite San Holo, and Grammy-winning MC Flowdan.
The Living Room
Over the course of its 20 years on the Farm, the Living Room has perfected the art of chilling. Originally named the Beach stage when it launched in 2002, the concept began as a dedicated space for downtempo and ambient music, encouraging festivalgoers to take a respite from the wild weekend with a cool dip in the river or a nap beneath its old-growth cedar trees.
Nowadays, markedly more uptempo and multi-genre tunes come booming out of the Living Room’s PK system, tastefully punctuated by unique programming true to its chill-out roots, including Native American flute music, the Fungineers’ psychedelic hip-hop puppet show, and LSDREAM’s LIGHTCODE.
Starting the party early along with the AMP, the Living Room will host a curated bill of Kootenay talents on Thursday before expansive bass artists like SOOHAN and Adham Shaikh and live electronic act Tone Ranger take the stage.
On Friday, after some baile funk from VHOOR, fans can catch hip-hop, bass, breaks, and everything in between in sets from Honeydrip, Mary Droppinz, Amp Live, Onhell, and The Glitch Mob, who came up with their moniker in the Living Room 17 years ago, according to stage directors Sara Spicer and Mike Paine. The duo’s members, edIT and Ooah, will also perform solo.
Before he plays the AMP on Sunday, Tipper will deliver his last set in the Living Room before retiring with a sunset performance on Saturday, giving way to highly touted live acts like LION BABE, Moontricks, and Dirtwire.
On the final day of Shambhala, attendees can bust a move on the banks of the Salmo to the sounds of returning Shambs legend Mat the Alien, hip-hop mashup pioneer Z-Trip, Wajatta—the comedic dance music project of Reggie Watts and John Tejada—and the global house rhythms of Sabo.
The Village
The Village is Shambhala’s designated place for face-melting bass. Supposedly modeled after the Ewok village in Star Wars, it features treehouse hideouts and elevated walkways, and is deliberately crafted to be cozy and immersive despite being Shambhala’s largest by total area.
After 18 years on the Farm, the Village underwent major renovations in 2019. Its famous jungle-gym-looking dome was demolished, and a new steel and concrete structure was erected, adorned with decadently carved psychedelic patterns on its wooden exterior. The new Village debuted in 2022 following the festival’s pandemic-era hiatus and is specially outfitted with towering stacks of PK bassbins.
The Village opens on Friday, with label owner and Metalheadz veteran John Rolodex’s Village Jungle Rinse Out during the day. Later, a performance from UK drum & bass artist Friction gives way to Canada’s own dubstep don Excision and the equally heavy Dion Timmer.
Saturday brings drum & bass with a DNB Girls takeover from Crystal Fresh before top-selling duo Phibes, surging UK artist Georgie Riot, and “MHITR (Semi-Automatic)” hit-maker Hedex. The night will close with deep dub and experimental bass from the Chillage (ill.Gates, Mr. Bill, shmani, and Slowform), but not before Ganja White Night unleashes their famous wobbles and wubs.
ill.Gates will deliver his main set at the Village on Sunday alongside live-looping drum & bass act Wolfy Lights—performing with Pendulum drummer KJ Sawka—Hospital Records heavyweight Whiney and MC P Money, D&B titan A.M.C. and MC Armanni Reign, WORSHIP member Dimension, freeform bazz wizard Subtronics, and rising trap talent Juelz.
Fractal Forest
The Fractal Forest joined Shambhala in its sophomore year, 1999. Appropriately dubbed “The Funkiest Show On Earth,” the 360-degree stage is a classic known for its UFO-looking pyramid hovering above the DJ decks and its place tucked away in the woods, where the feet are always moving to the grooviest tunes around via PK Sound.
A flurry of Calgary funkmasters open the Fractal Forest during a Westwood Recordings takeover on Friday, including longtime Shambhala player Freddy J, Underdog, DJ Hannah, and Joanna Magik, a current flagbearer of the Canadian house scene known for her releases on Dirtybird, Glasgow Underground and Farris Wheel.
The local presence continues with a DJ set from Montreal’s Grammy-nominated electro-funk duo, Chromeo, and BC-based Shambhala stalwarts like The Funk Hunters and Stickybuds. Later, Daily Bread’s wonky hip-hop beats will give way to crisp tech house cuts from returning spinners like live-drumming DJ RUMPUS and Burchill.
More Fractal Forest veterans open the bill on Saturday, such as DJ Lefy, The Gaff, and Slynk, before Small Town DJs, another celebrated Calgary tech house act and hosts of the stage’s Fractal Funk Jam, provide direct support for a rare all-vinyl set from DJ Pee.Wee, better known as eight-time Grammy-winner Anderson .Paak.
Also be sure to check out award-winning British house duo Stanton Warriors and funk-hip-hop dad Father Funk ahead of Sunday’s impressive run of leftfield and bass house artists, including The Sponges, Wax Motif, Dillon Francis, Marten Hørger, BIJOU, Cazztek and more.
The Grove
Home of the “gnomies,” the Grove is a maze of woodland experiences adorned with soft, colorful lighting for a glowing mystique that honors the natural beauty of the West Kootenay region. It also offers perhaps the most sonically diverse lineup at this year’s Shambhala, heard on a top-of-the-line Funktion-One system.
Festival classic instrumental ensemble Lazy Syrup Orchestra kick off the fun with their mix of funk, soul, bass and hip-hop on Friday, followed by a showcase of Canadian talent, including Sundog, Metafloor, and ATTYA.
UK-heavy sounds will come from DE-TÜ‘s NINA, Sicaria, and awarded jungle revivalist Nia Archives, making her Shambhala debut. Later, Exit Records boss dBridge and anything-goes heroes Synkro, The Librarian, and Goopsteppa soundtrack the path to sunrise.
On Saturday afternoon, New Zealand bass selector and Westwood staple K+Lab will debut his live project, PXLMTREES, with TF Marz, Parkbreezy, OAKK, and El-B leading the Grove to sunset. Grammy-winning songwriter, producer, and vocalist James Blake’s DJ set is the main event, with exceptional direct support coming from soulful live-looping rapper-singer KAMAUU.
Five Alarm Funk make their anticipated return to the Grove on Sunday, ahead of tribal house grooves from rising act O’Flynn, exquisitely minimal house and techno from Sydney-born, London-based Logic1000, and heralded organic house from Bonobo.
Do not miss legendary Hessle Audio co-founder Ben UFO, renowned for his wide-ranging sets that incorporate everything from house and techno to dubstep and IDM, as well as rave-inspired multi-instrumentalist Jasper Tygner.
The Pagoda
Last but certainly not least is the granddaddy of them all, The Pagoda. Perhaps the most visually stimulating, Shambhala’s unofficial main stage is a towering seven-story temple that shapeshifts into anything you can imagine, washed with painstakingly mapped 3D projection visuals and rigged with thumping PK speakers.
After its grand opening on Friday, the Pagoda welcomes some of the world’s best selectors in zany house music, including deep stalwart Kyle Watson and What To Do label boss and Dirtybird legend Justin Martin, who will also play B2B with UK tech house icon Chris Lorenzo. Later, bass house reigns supreme with Matroda and a B2B from industry luminary Destructo and G-house king Dr. Fresch.
On Saturday, the Pagoda comes out swinging with an exciting B2B from Desert Hearts co-founder Mikey Lion and the Pagoda’s own DJ Soup, British underground champion Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, and a Disclosure DJ set manned by Guy Lawrence. Later, catch the in-demand sounds of today with Disco Lines, Max Styler, and Norwegian future house leader Funkin Matt.
Canadian indie dance duo Bodysync is another must-see, known for their light-hearted and carefree cuts released on esteemed imprints like A-Trak’s Fool’s Gold, Last Gang, Counter Records, and more.
The Pagoda’s Sunday lineup is stacked with bass. Things get hot as early as 8PM with LYNY, followed by a long line of his leading experimental bass contemporaries, such as One True God, Zingara, CloZee, LSDREAM, Barclay Crenshaw and straight-out-of-Bristol legends KOAN Sound.
