Shambala Festival review, Northamptonshire: Some truly memorable shows

U Roy performs at Shambala Festival (Lindsay Melbourne)

Over the years I’ve been lucky enough to attend a whole raft of UK festivals - from chic boutique to mainstream madness, city-centre to country escapes. Yet, on this showing, nothing is a patch on Shambala.

I’d argue that an ideal festival should be about leaving your 9-5 behind, letting go of your inhibitions, discovering new music, and – at the sake of sounding a little hippy – getting a whole new outlook on the world. Well Shambala has all this is spades.

Subtitled ‘Adventures in Utopia’, it’s clear from the moment you enter the main gates and are greeted by grinning disco dancers dishing out candy floss, that this isn’t your average festival.

The annual Fruity Friday, where festival-goers are encouraged to throw off gender stereotypes, sums it up. The site is awash with bearded, made-up men in dresses, women with stick on ‘taches, and enough sequins to put Strictly Come Dancing to shame.

There are talks and workshops galore - you could easily spend the entire weekend learning how we can live (and eat) more sustainably. The kids’ field has a range of inspiring activities to rival Glastonbury. And everywhere there’s a sea of smiling faces.

Music is the soundtrack to the weekend rather than the sole reason for being here. The line up is devoid of commercial radio fodder, instead there's an eclectic selection of global artists and DJs. Even the most knowledgeable music trainspotter would be hard pushed to recognise a dozen of the hundred plus acts on the programme. But that's the point. Shambala isn't about stadium bands or stumbling from stage to stage spilling your plastic pot of corporate lager trying to get a glimpse of the latest big thing.

The first artists to grace the main Shambala stage on Friday afternoon are the Kakatsitsi Drummers - their driving Ghanaian rhythms drawing people from all over the site with their hypnotic beats. It's impossible not to be moved by this wall of sound.

There are some truly memorable sets to be discovered across the weekend. The Beat featuring Ranking Roger have the main stage crowd skanking away with their classic ska, DJ Wrongtom plays a blinding late-night set, mashing up a host of styles to a rocking crowd in Chai Wallahs, and Oumore Sangaré’s closing set on the Sunday sends shivers down the spine. But for me the highlight of the whole weekend was catching the mighty U Roy’s brilliant Saturday afternoon set, including “The Tide Is High” and the timeless “Wear You To The Ball”. The 74-year-old reggae legend’s sweet tones will stay long in the memory.

As will Shambala. A truly individual festival in a sea of mediocrity. Long may it reign.