February Festival: Go To Shambhala In Your Heart, Chiang Dao

20:28 Amy 5 Comments

Shambhala Festival: music, dance, arts, crafts, camping, campfires, yoga, meditation, food, alcohol, tea, and a few thousand revelers at the base of the mighty, mist-shrouded Doi Luang mountain in Chiang Dao.

Shambhala In Your Heart Festival is every February in Chiang Dao, just two hours from Chiang Mai. It's one of the best festivals in Thailand - a small Thai / Japanese / French celebration I've attended three times already, and I love it. This year it's on from 9 - 18 February.

Read on to find out what it's like and Shambhala in Your Heart 2017 details. If you want to stay in accommodation, book it now - there's a list of places to stay nearby at the bottom of this post.

South East Asia Backpacker magazine published my article about Shambhala Festival 2014, all the way back in 2015. Here's an excerpt, read the rest here starting on page 43.

The music keeps on getting better and better each year. In 2016 the final band was mindblowing. It had maybe fifteen different members, and the music was haunting, unsettling, fierce, and beautiful. Mesmorizing.

"My favourite musicians last year were a pair of intense Japanese guys playing crazy tunes on guitars with a load of effects pedals. They were introduced in Japanese, but I’m pretty sure they were called 'Ten Cape Hepopo'. They took us on an emotional journey - one moment super happy ska; the next moment the soundtrack to an apocalypse; the next into dark depths of despair and back again. Powerful."

Back then, Shambhala was mostly attended by hippies. And yeah, it's still pretty hippy. But in 2016 Shambhala attracted a much wider audience - over 2000 people. Shambhala is for all kinds of traveler, and people are incredibly welcoming. If you're still reading this post and think you might like to go, you won't feel out of place.

Chiang Dao offers plenty to do during the day. Walk up the stairs to The Temple on the Hill, soak in hot springs, explore a huge and magically-illuminated cave, go on a jungle-hike through the forest and bamboo groves.

A photo posted by AmyLou (@amy.on.toast.photo) on Oct 18, 2015 at 9:49am PDT

Shambhala Festival 2017 is at Chiang Dao Camp from 9 - 18 February. You can go for just a day or the whole 10 days. The weekend will be the busiest time with the most popular performers.

Entrance Fee

 

You must take your own tent or book accommodation in a guesthouse nearby. If you want to camp buy a tent from Decathlon Chiang Mai. If you want a guesthouse, book right now - rooms are going super fast as the festival approaches. List below:

The closest guesthouse to Shambhala Festival is The Teak House - about 10 minutes away in a car. I've stayed there before and it was pretty good. We hitchhiked to-and-from the festival by waving down passing pick-up trucks on the road to the festival and asking for a ride. Every single person who stopped said yes and wouldn't take money.

Other nearby guesthouses in Chiang Dao include, from closest to furthest away:

Microkosmos Guest House - budget

Mon Kiang-Dao Resort - budget

ChiangDao Country Retreat - budget

Azalea Village - midrange (has a beeeeautiful pool!)

Chiang Dao Hostel - budget

Chiang Dao Story Camp - budget

Chiang Dao Roundhouses - midrange

Chiangkham Luang Resort - upper-midrange

Chiang Dao Hut - budget

Aurora Resort Chiang Dao - midrange

Malees Nature Lovers Bungalows - budget

Final Land Resort Chiangdao - budget

Baandin Resort Chiang Dao - budget

Follow this map. It's easy. Drive up the 107 all the way. Signs will direct you. You'll see signs for Malee's Nature Lover's Bungalows when you get close - follow them as soon as you see them. Then, you'll see signs for Shambhala.

Buses leave Chiang Mai every 30 minutes between 5:30 until 19:30. Get a tuk tuk or red car to Chiang Mai Bus Terminal 1, here. Go to all the windows and explain you want a bus to Chiang Dao: "Ow bpai Chee-ang Dao". They'll tell you what to do, or point where you need to go at the very least. Tickets are 40 baht. Once you've purchased a ticket, ask where you should wait. Once you're on the bus, ask the driver to tell you when you reach Chiang Dao. The bus will take you to Chiang Dao bus station, here. From there, get a taxi, songthaew, or tuk tuk to Shmbahala Festival - whatever is available. The yellow songthaews run all day to-and-from Shambhala, so you can get one back when you want to go home, too - in the daytime only.

Facilities are kinda limited, to say the least. You can buy food and drink. The toilets are squat-style - take your own toilet roll if you need it. Showers are cold. The toilet and shower situation is why many people choose to stay in a nearby guesthouse!

Despite having few facilities, Shambhala is one of the best festivals I've ever been to - and it's so cheap. If you're in Chiang Mai from 9 - 18 February, you gotta go. You'd be stupid to miss out!

P.S. Here's the unfinished Shambhala In Your Heart 2017 artist list!