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Kambe Events – the company behind pioneering independent festival Shambala – has today announced a landmark transition to employee ownership, becoming the first festival in the UK to adopt this model.
The move sees the festival’s original co-founders step away from ownership, ceding the business to the team members who have helped build it over more than two decades.
The transition will see Shambala owned by an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT), helping to ensure that the festival will remain independent, and that its team will share in future successes.
“All of us at Shambala have an emotional stake in what we have built over 25 years; now everyone has an ownership stake too,” explains Co-Founder and MD, Chris Johnson. “We would be nothing without our people, and they deserve to carry on the Shambala legacy as beneficiaries.“
This bold step comes at a time when many independent festivals are being acquired by major live entertainment conglomerates, marking a significant alternative path for the sector. By choosing employee ownership, Shambala is reinforcing its commitment to independence, sustainability and ethical stewardship.
“Shambala stands for independence and, in an increasingly commercialised festival scene, we simply could not sell to venture capitalists or the big promotion companies,” adds Johnson. “While exploring alternative paths, we fell in love with the Employee Ownership model.”
While recent years have seen a rise in community ownership of independent venues and a growing number of employee-owned retailers, this transition represents a first for the UK festival industry – setting a new precedent for how live events businesses can evolve, while keeping their core values very much intact.
“It is patently clear that the current capitalist model is fundamentally broken,” adds Dan Raffety, Head of Music and another of the festival’s Co-Founders, who has led Kambe’s transition to EO. “As a society we must explore alternative models of ownership as a way through which the massive power and potential of capitalism can be focused on serving humanity and the planet at large.”
“Employee Ownership is just the next, natural step in Kambe’s adventures towards a utopia – the next phase in our constant evolution towards justice and a better world.”
The move continues a long-standing tradition of thought-leadership and innovation for Shambala. Over its 26-year history, the festival has been at the forefront of industry change, particularly in areas like sustainability and ethical operations. This latest development adds to a legacy defined by forward-thinking decisions and a willingness to challenge the status quo.
By placing ownership in the hands of its employees, the festival is ensuring that its founding ethos – creativity, sustainability, independence and community – remains protected for years to come.
