Reggie Watts, Orchestra Baobab and Nubiyan Twist among new names added to Shambala line-up
Shambala has today announced more than 70 new acts who will be performing when the acclaimed festival returns this summer.
Newly confirmed names include Reggie Watts - the whirlwind of surreal beatboxing, improvised comedy and musical mischief - Senegal’s iconic masters of hypnotic Afro-Latin groove, Orchestra Baobab, as well as a brass-fuelled explosion of jazz, funk and Afrobeats from Nubiyan Twist.
Also joining the line-up 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 and Waldo’s Gift.
Together, they span global grooves, boundary-pushing electronics, folk, funk and soul.
These additions bolster the festival's already stellar line-up, which includes the likes of Bob Vylan, Hollie Cook, Goat and Emma-Jean Thackray.
As ever, Shambala’s stages will be bursting with far more than just music.
For 2026, the festival – held in Northamptonshire – is unveiling a new Spiegeltent which will become a 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 and DJs - curated by Bristol-based interactive theatre legends Compass Presents and delivered with a distinctly Shambalan twist.
Other participatory moments already confirmed for 2026 will include 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 and this year the winning vote was purple.
After almost a decade of being a meat and fish-free festival, yesterday organisers announced plans to consult festival goers on whether locally sourced wild venison should be on the menu.
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.
The move helped shift habits and cut food-related emissions to just six percent of the festival’s total, compared with an average of 21 per cent at UK music festivals.
Now, this 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.
Votes on whether Shambala should add wild venison to the menu can be cast at https://shambalafestival.org.
Voting will close on Friday, March 6 at 11.59pm and the results will be revealed later in the month.
Shambala will returns from Thursday, August 27, to Sunday, August 30, at it’s regular home of Kelmarsh Hall in Northamptonshire.
Tickets for Shambala sell out on a regular basis and a limited number of Tier 3 adult weekend tickets and Green Traveller tickets remain available and cost £295 before fees.
A limited new Tier 2 Young Adult ticket has also been released at £255, with flexible three and five month payment plans available for all ticket types.
For more information, visit https://www.shambalafestival.org/buy-tickets/
The full list of new additions to Shambala’s line up is:
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 and Where’s Rei?