iN NUMBERS: Shambhala Music Festival from techno and dubstep to DUIs and a chapel

It’s music festival season and one of the biggest in BC is the Shambhala Music Festival which is set to draw thousands of ravers to the West Kootenay during the last weekend of July for a weekend of DJs, drugs and dancing.

Maybe you love raves or maybe they trigger your curiosity, either way we have some numbers.

Here are the numbers for the annual Shambhala Music Festival at Salmo Ranch near Nelson:

• 200: Musical acts are going to be bumping big tunes at Shambhala.
• 10: Genres of music at the festival including bass, dubstep, techno, trap, deep house, drum and bass, hip hop, reggae, funk and even some folk music.
• 6: Stages at this farm-rave festival in the Kootenays.
• 500: Acre farm on the Salmo River is the venue for Shambhala.
• 26: Years of Shambhala festivals to commemorate.
• 1: Wedding chapel at the festival in case you want your big day to have a backdrop of booming bass and mesh shirts.
• 18: Washrooms spread around the festival. 
• 55: Bucks for a 25th anniversary Shambhala beach towel.
• 29: Artists have their work on display at the festival’s gallery.
• 579: Dollars for a general admission ticket, but they’re sold out. You snooze, you lose.
• 30,000: Visitors were checked by BC Highway Patrol at last year’s Shambhala.
• 39: Drivers received 24-hour suspensions for drugs at the festival last year.
• 19: Drivers were caught driving under the influence of drugs at the festival last year.
• 1: Person drowned in the river at the festival in 2023.