Shambala Festival has announced a huge new batch of over 70 artists for its 2026 edition, adding even more colour, creativity and left-field brilliance to what is already shaping up to be the festival’s most ambitious line-up to date.
Newly confirmed names include Reggie Watts, the whirlwind of surreal beatboxing, improvised comedy and musical mischief, plus Senegal’s iconic masters of hypnotic Afro-Latin groove, Orchestra Baobab, as well as a brass-fuelled explosion of jazz, funk and afrobeat from Nubiyan Twist.
Also joining the party are sun-drenched psychedelia queens Los Bitchos, bass-heavy Bristol firestarter Grove, and jazz drummer Sarathy Korwar alongside Jamz Supernova, Prima Queen, Avalanche Kaito, Sababa 5, Joshua Burnside, Lisa Knapp & Gerry Diver, Malin Lewis, Waldo’s Gift and many more – spanning global grooves, boundary-pushing electronics, folk, funk, soul and joyful voyages of musical discovery. These additions bolster the festival’s already stellar musical line-up, which includes the likes of Bob Vylan, Hollie Cook, Goat (UK festival exclusive), and Emma-Jean Thackray.
As ever, Shambala’s stages will be bursting with far more than just music. For 2026, the festival is unveiling a brand new Spiegeltent, set to become a dazzling new home for live circus, cabaret and theatrical spectacles. Festival goers can expect kids’ cabaret and family rave-ups, aerial circus swooping overhead, and genre-smashing bands & DJs – curated by Bristol-based interactive theatre legends Compass Presents, and delivered with a distinctly Shambalan twist.
True to Shambala’s fiercely independent spirit, the festival continues to put its community at the heart of decision-making. This year, after a decade of being meat- and fish-free, the question of reintroducing meat – solely in the form of sustainable, locally sourced wild venison – has been put to an audience vote, inviting Shambalans to decide whether it should feature on the menu in 2026.
Shambala removed meat and fish from its menus back in 2016 to spark conversation about the wider impacts of what we eat on climate, ecosystems and communities – a move that helped shift habits and cut food-related emissions to just 6% of the festival’s total, compared with an average of 21% at UK music festivals. Now, this radical rethink comes in response to record-high deer populations across the UK. With overgrazing known to be damaging woodlands, wetlands and biodiversity in the absence of natural predators, Shambala is once again reopening the debate – and asking what truly sustainable eating looks like in 2026.
Shambala MD and Co-Founder Chris Johnson explains:
“In 2016 we shocked the festival world, and some of our audience, by taking meat and fish off the menu. We did this to reduce environmental impacts, and also to spark debate. It feels time to reinvigorate these important conversations, and also to highlight that we urgently need to eat wild deer to rescue and protect what little is left of our natural habitats.”
The debate is now open to the audience and the results will be shared in early March.
Other much-loved participatory moments are already locked in for 2026, including the Saturday carnival, which sees the whole festival transformed with creative costumes based around a different theme each year. In 2026 festival goers will put their own novel interpretations on the theme ‘Lyrical Genius‘. In a similar vein, Flamboyant Friday has Shambalans all commit to dressing in one colour for the day. This year the Shambalans voted to transform the festival crowd into a vibrant sea of purple.
Following last year’s sell-out, Shambala 2026 is filling up fast. Tier 1 Adult, Tier 2 Adult and Tier 1 Young Adult tickets are sold out, with Tier 3 Adult Weekend and Green Traveller tickets now selling fast. To meet significant demand for young persons’ tickets, a very limited new Tier 2 Young Adult ticket has also been just released at £255, with flexible three and five month payment plans available for all ticket types.
With its genre-defying line-up, commitment to off-the-wall silliness and deep-rooted community, 2026 is shaping up to be another unforgettable chapter in Shambala’s story.
For tickets and more information, visit shambalafestival.org/buy-tickets/
NEW LINE-UP ADDITIONS IN FULL (A-Z):
AFLO
Akané
Arrival
Avalanche Kaito
Calliope
Cazelle Cafe
Chris Tofu & Friends
Chris Tofu, Debbralee Wells & Friends
Compass Cabaret
Cut A Shine
Davina Songbird
Delian Sound
Disco Exotic
Dogshow
Dub Colossus
Earthly Measures
Earthnut
EL-ZE
E-Roy
Fedzilla
Fiz
Fraser
Gnatcatcher
Grove
Ife Ogunjobi
Inda Flo
Itchy Rich
Jamz Supernova
Joshua Burnside
Kasai Masai
Kate Griffin & Matchume Zango
Lamisi
Lazy Jane
LFay
Lisa Knapp & Gerry Diver
Los Bitchos
Lucas Jet
Luke Wright (Poetry)
MADELEINE
MadMax
Makam Salam
Malin Lewis
Manami
Maya Law
Meduulla
Mina & Bryte
MixMaster Morris
Mom Tudie
Mr Bruce
Mr Pineapple Head
MT Jones
Naomi Wood
Nubiyan Twist
Orchestra Baobab
Pambelé
Pete Mills (aka Silvertortoise)
Prima Queen
Reggie Watts (solo)
Reggie Watts & CAPYAC
Rick Dove
RuMac
Sababa 5
Sam Browne (Poetry)
Sarathy Korwar
Saroor
Socks & Ballerinas
Sonny Flexen
Sophia Lucia (Poetry)
Spear
Stacey Cohen
Suitman Jungle
Tyrone Lewis (Poetry)
Vilk Collective
Waldo’s Gift
Where’s Rei?
