From Shambala to Glastonbury, Chai Wallahs has now come to Bristol

It was in December 2004 that two founders (Si Chai and Richard Howard) decided to collaborate. Chai had launched Creative Nature, a herbal emporium by day and DJ cafe by night offering a range of products imported from Thailand.

Howard had set up a stall at Glastonbury Festival in 1999 which offered authentic Chai Tea amongst other things and hosted drumming workshops.

The two businesses together merged to create Chai Wallahs, a DJ Café & herbal emporium at festivals, with the venue now a freeform stretch tent with a capacity of around 1200 people.

The venture has seen a range of artists across different genres perform there while they tour the festival circuit, from Shambala to Glastonbury, and they have now decided to set up camp in Bristol.

Why Bristol? “Bristol feels like home. It’s forward thinking, culturally appreciative, diverse, environmentally conscious”, they tell Bristol24/7.

“It has a fantastic community of musicians, artists, theatre makers who all work hard for each other. There are also a great collection of independent live music venues and curation spaces who over time we’ve forged long term, meaningful relationships with.”

With the ever growing venue, it is no surprise that they are constantly looking for artists to perform throughout the year. With a music industry that is never lacking, there a certain things Chai Wallahs’ looks for when deciding on which artists to put on their lineup.

“What we’re looking for is that same hunger and willingness to work together and make the most of the opportunities that get thrown our way. We’re never going to be millionaires, but we can have a fucking good time trying!”

From Green Man to Secret Garden Party, the touring venue has seen it all

Always looking for artists outside of the mainstream, the venture does not define itself by genre but instead tries to stay accountable by following a particular ethos.

“Our ethos within the venue is to fastidiously fuse and conjure an eclectic, diverse and fiercely independent lineup of outstanding acts from the grass roots scene,” Chai Wallahs’ tells us.

“To collaborate in the supportive aspects of the work, it’s such a two-way thing. All we’re trying to do is make sure that musicians can play on decent stages to loads of people because we absolutely love it!

“We also advocate healing, compassion, and creativity and try to construct a community of open minded, forward thinking, caring individuals, who in turn can affect the change we seek in our challenging world.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/CkNtgfBK6Fe/?hl=en

With almost 20 years of memories, the venue is seeking to nuture and develop homegrown talent as well as creating equal opportunities.

Bristol has long been a city of diverse culture, from record labels to Youtube series, from independent musicians to Grammy nominated artists, the city is booming with music.

So what can Chai Wallahs bring to the table? “Firstly, we always try to nurture longstanding relationships with Bristol musicians; by putting them on in venues across the city, supporting them through our booking agency or programming them across multiple festivals on the Chai Wallahs stage.

“Secondly, forging transparent, fair and equal event opportunities across Bristol with our city’s independent venues. Also the beauty of the festival circuit is that we meet acts from all over the country and then get the pleasure of bringing them to Bristol.”

As well as the touring venue and putting on local events, Chai Wallahs’ have also started hunting for musicians to play with them for 2023.

To support the unsupported is at the heart of their venture and in an industry that can often be intimidating, this is more important than ever.

Artists Applications are now open and you can apply here.

All photos: courtesy of Chai Wallahs

Read next:

• Eliza Rose to join free talk at BIMM Bristol
• Local bands lead the way for charity event
• Bristol band nominated for 2023 Grammy Awards

Listen to the latest Bristol24/7 Behind the Headlines podcast: