People / Breakfast with Bristol24/7
Breakfast with Bristol24/7: Sid Sharma
“I’ve been in Bristol for about 20 years – I first came here for university at Bower Ashton, and, like lots of students, stayed on. I left university and we set up a festival food business called the Thali Café in 1999. The following year we set up Shambala Festival,” Sid says as we sit down over peppermint tea and smashed avocado in Este Kitchen, just a stone’s throw from the Thali on St Mark’s Road.
“I ran both businesses concurrently, and did 20-30 festivals each year with the café before we found a permanent base in Montpellier,” Sid continues. “Over the years, we’ve set up five other branches, and Shambala has continued to grow as well.” He makes it sound easy, but in reality, both ventures have come on an incredible journey.
“We were ridiculously naïve, but full of enthusiasm and youth when we put on the first Shambala festival,” he reminisces with a grin. “Instead of wristbands, we hand-made clay pendants and gave them to everyone who arrived. The stage was a farmer’s trailer covered in plastic to protect it from the rain. It was the beginning of a journey for us all.
is needed now More than ever
“It was quite ‘zeitgeisty’. 20 years ago there weren’t so many festivals; now there are close to 900 every year in the UK. We were very much one of the pioneers of the boutique festival world. Without sounding big headed, I think we inspired a lot of the young festival organisers of today.”
Originally from Birmingham, and with just a trace of a Midlands accent to belie those roots, Sid seems very much at home in Bristol. “It’s the size of Bristol that I like,” he says, mopping up the chilli flakes and egg yolk on the plate with a forkful of sourdough. “I’ve lived in Easton for over 10 years, and although it is being gentrified, it’s still multi-cultural, and it’s still got heart. Bristol is definitely a festival city, and I think it’s rebellious in its nature.”
He might have founded one of the UK’s most established festivals, but Sid isn’t complacent. “The festival landscape is always changing, and plenty have been and gone since I’ve been around. We have adapted with the times, but the essence of Shambala has not changed: we put the people and the environment before anything else.”
Year on year, the festival has strived to be more environmentally friendly, and that has manifested in some big decisions. “All the businesses I’ve run have had a strong social and environmental element,” Sid says. “We’ve banned all plastic, we run the event on renewable energy, and last year, we stopped serving meat and fish on site. There was a bit of negative feedback, but when we looked at the facts of the industrial meat industry, we felt we had to do something about it in our own sphere of influence.”
One of the most impressive things is how much the festival-goers at Shambala accept being someone else for the weekend – a temporary vegetarian is the tip of the iceberg. “In festival spaces, you’re open to new ways of thinking,” Sid says. “It’s a pure environment, and the way we design our festival reflects that – we have lots of campfire pits and workshops where you’ll meet people.
“For the future, we’re looking at alternative exchange systems to cash,” Sid says, pushing away his empty plate. “How people can build up a goodwill currency that could be stored up.” Shambala bills itself as an adventure in utopia, and, with Sid at the helm, unafraid to take risks, it feels as though it will continue to be just that.
Read more Breakfast with Bristol24/7: Beth Rowley
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