Glastonbury’s Shangri-La team Announces New VR Festival Lost Horizon

Four Stages, 50+ Music Acts, 100+ Artists, Over 200 Artworks Lined-Up for the World’s Largest Virtual Reality Music and Arts Festival in Support of the Big Issue and Amnesty International

The team behind Glastonbury’s legendary Shangri-La, in partnership with VRJAM and Sansar, announces Lost Horizon (3 & 4 July, 2020) in collaboration with Orca Sound Project and Beatport, featuring an interstellar line up of superstar DJs, underground acts and visual artists, raising money for The Big Issue and Amnesty International.

Lost Horizon is a fully interactive and multi-stage event to explore via PC, VR or mobile app (iOS and Android) and streamed live and direct to wherever you are on the planet via Beatport and Twitch, and via partner and artist Facebook, YouTube and Twitch accounts. The festival is a deep multi-layered experience, filled with wild dance-floors, secret headliners, a visual feast of art and performance, hidden venues and huge artists.

Summoning forth some of the planet’s most iconic electronic artists under the curation of Orca Sound Project, visitors to the Gas Tower can witness AV/VJ sets from (in alphabetical order): ABSOLUTE. b2b Jaguar, Alan Fitzpatrick, Anna, Archie Hamilton, Carl Cox, Eats Everything, Fatboy Slim, Francesco Mami, Jamie Jones, John Digweed, Mella Dee, Nastia, Nick Warren b2b Jody Wisternoff, Orca Sound, Partiboi69, Peggy Gou, Pete Tong, Sasha, Seth Troxler, Skream plus many more.

Freedom Stage highlights (in alphabetical order) include A.Skillz, Afriquoi, Alabama 3 Acoustic and Unplugged, Barberella’s Bang Bang, Beans on Toast, Bobby Friction’s Fake News Orchestra, Brass Rave Unit, Coldcut, Dabbla, Dr Syntax and Pete Cannon, Dub Pistols Sound-system, Frank Turner, Haggard Cat (Earache), Henge, Krafty Kuts, Madame Electrifie, Mike Freear (Keith Flint Tribute Set) MY BABY, My Bad Sister, ONIPA, John Acquaviva, PENGSHUi (Earache), Swing & Bass Soundsystem, The Nextmen, They Say Jump, Voodoo Black and Chris Tofu with Cleo Savva. Generously funded by the Arts Council England, Global Local will be contributing to the Freedom Stage line-up showcasing some of the best local emerging talents from a wide range of cultures and communities.

SHITV (Shangri-La International Television) broadcasts everything from the absurd to the enlightened, from the sidelines, frontlines and backstages of alternative culture. SHITV will show films, documentaries, theatre, live art, comedy, animation and talks including Sofia Olins ‘Lost in Vagueness’ the extraordinary untold story of Glastonbury Festival’s most iconic and anarchic sideshow attraction, Lost Vagueness.

New for 2020, the Nomad Stage has been created for the 30th Anniversary of the Traveller’s field that came before Shangri-La, the heart of the free party movement. The new stage will feature artists from 24hr Garage Girls, Amen4Tekno Records, Born on Road, Critical Records, Hospitality, Hold Tight Records, Kaotic Kartel, Run Tings Records, UnCommon Records.

Lost Horizon is a virtual and mixed-reality festival event unlike any other featuring computer-generated avatars and green screen ‘hologram’ performances. Lost Horizon is created using Sansar, Wookey Technologies’ cutting-edge, photorealistic platform for virtual live events and can be experienced on PC, VR or mobile (iOS and Android), plus will be streamed live on Beatport, Twitch and across social media.

Mobile users will be able to toggle between different vantage points within the virtual world, whereas virtual reality and PC users will be able to move around inside the space, chat and interact with other festival goers, just as if they were at a real life festival.

Lost Horizon mirrors Shangr-La’s huge outdoor art gallery, and in addition to the incredible music line up, will feature over 200 visual art pieces, curated by ShangrilART on the ongoing theme of human connection.

Featured on the towering billboards that surround the Freedom Stage will be a new exhibition co-curated by world famous graphic designer Malcolm Garrett with Lost Horizon and Shangri-La creative director Kaye Dunnings. The show, part of a partnership with creative not-for-profit organisation Design Manchester is expecting submissions from over 40 globally renowned graphic artists, including Morag Myerscough, Patrick Thomas, Matt Ipcar, Raissa Pardini, Clive Russell and Paula Scher. Further billboard art based on the Lost Horizon artwork will be contributed by Manchester’s Instruct Studio, which created Lost Horizon’s brand, campaign and website.

With its roots deep in contemporary music, art and activism, Shangri-La has established itself as a legendary field in UK festival culture, engaging a truly dynamic community of artists, builders, and revolutionary creators and known for showcasing the latest “off mainstage” acts, Shangri-La has served as a launchpad for some of music’s biggest names, with artists such as Lady Gaga, Rudimental, Disclosure and Pendulum gracing its stages early in their careers. This makes Lost Horizon the perfect place to launch the next era of live music.

Lost Horizon is the Shangri-La team’s response to the pandemic affecting the planet, and raises funds for The Big Issue and Amnesty International. The Big Issue’s urgent appeal has been launched by the organisation to support Big Issue vendors who haven’t been able to sell the magazine safely on the streets since the Covid crisis hit.

Donations to the charities will be made via the VR and streaming platforms, plus Lost Horizon Festival Website 

Tickets to experience Lost Horizon in VR or PC desktop are available now at Sansar Website . Fans can also sign up for the free Lost Horizon mobile app that will empower them to see inside the virtual world of Lost Horizon using nothing more than their phone, by subscribing at www.losthorizonfestival.com

For more information and to stay up to date follow www.losthorizonfestival.com or www.sansar.com/losthorizon