After 13 glorious years, in 2024 we will be bidding a very fond farewell to the one and only Chai Wallahs. 13 years of utter vibes, slick production, BANGING line ups and some of the most iconic Shambala moments of all time.
Venues coming and going is par for the course in our industry – but this departure in particular is both big and emotional for us. We know how much you love ‘em – we do too. It’s been a true honour to work with this crew for so long – they are without doubt some of the best in the business and we couldn’t be more grateful for all the good times, it’s been an amazing ride.
It remains very hard out there, for fully independent festivals in general – spiralling production costs across the industry and tight budgets mean difficult decisions have to be made to keep the festival moving forward and secure it’s long term future.
We also take seriously our duty to offer a platform and opportunity to new collectives and concepts. Mapping a festival is like a really high stakes and slightly nightmarish game of tetris, with a hundred moving parts to consider from audience capacities to sound levels and space utilisation. Nothing is simple and every change or tweak has a knock on effect – so to be able to bring you anything new (watch this space…👀) we must occasionally rotate something out.
So, with a huge amount of love, respect and gratitude, a standing ovation please, to our incredible friends and long time collaborators at Chai Wallahs.
We hope you continue to support them at the other incredible festivals they appear at (Greenman, Secret Garden Party and the rest) – we certainly will – and we’ll catch you front left at the amazing nights they put on in Bristol’s Old Market Assembly, The Jam Jar & Trinity Centre.
To Si, Potter, Sal and the rest of the CW crew – you’ll always be a part of our family – thank you. x