Shambala Festival is expanding its Pay It Forwards: Share The Love initiative nationwide, providing support to individuals struggling to attend due to the cost-of-living crisis. Recipients will receive festival tickets and have all expenses covered, including food, travel, and accommodation.
Shambala Festival Launches Pay It Forwards: Share The Love Initiative
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Shambala Festival is launching its nationwide applications today for the Pay It Forwards: Share The Love initiative. This initiative aims to provide support to individuals who are struggling to attend the festival due to the current cost-of-living crisis. Recipients of the initiative will not only receive tickets to the festival but will also have all their expenses covered, including food, travel, and accommodation.
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The Pay It Forwards: Share The Love initiative was initially piloted in 2022, in collaboration with local organizations near the festival's site in Northamptonshire. This year, the initiative is expanding its reach from local to national by partnering with Tickets For Good, a platform originally established to offer discounted tickets to NHS staff. The goal is to provide greater access to arts and culture for individuals with low incomes, as the cost-of-living crisis continues to impact many.
Since the pilot, Shambala Festival attendees, crew, and artists have raised over £25,000 to open up the festival to those who would otherwise be unable to attend due to financial constraints. In 2023, the festival worked with The Leaving Care Trust, a part of The Northampton Children's Trust, to welcome local care leavers and also collaborated with Harborough Eco-Village and several local organizations, including the Community Fridge scheme.
Expanding Access to Shambala Festival
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While the Pay It Forwards: Share The Love initiative is open to applicants nationwide, the Shambala team has reserved 50% of festival access packages for individuals living in the festival's local area. Specifically, applicants with Leicester or Northamptonshire postcodes (LE & NN) are given priority. Detailed eligibility information can be found on the festival's website, and applications will close on May 23rd, 2024.
Becka Whiteley, a spokesperson for Shambala Festival, highlighted the financial challenges associated with attending festivals, particularly those that involve camping for a weekend. The festival's aim is not just to offer discounted tickets but to cover all the necessary expenses, including travel, camping equipment, food, and drink. By providing comprehensive access packages, Shambala Festival hopes to make attending the festival a reality for individuals facing financial difficulties.
Shambala Festival's tagline, "Adventures in Utopia," encapsulates its ethos of creating an alternative vision of society. The festival prides itself on its award-winning sustainability practices, absence of sponsorship or brand activations, and the warm and welcoming community it attracts. The Pay It Forwards: Share The Love initiative is one of the ways in which the festival aims to spread its values of radical kindness and creativity beyond its immediate community.
An Inclusive Festival Experience
As an independent music and arts festival with a 23-year history, Shambala Festival takes place at a secret location near Market Harborough. The lineup for this year's festival includes renowned artists such as Sampa The Great, Bob Vylan, The Congos, and Leyla McCalla, with more acts to be announced.
Image credits: Ania Shrimpton
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