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Shambhala succeeds

With its most recent act of philanthropy, the Shambhala Music Festival has confirmed they are a vital in this community.

With its most recent act of philanthropy, the Shambhala Music Festival has confirmed they are a vital thread in the fabric of this community.

As you read in today’s front page story, the family behind the annual electronic music festival made a $75,000 donation on Wednesday afternoon at the Tenth Street Campus. The generous gift is earmarked for Selkirk College’s performance and rehearsal space formerly known as Studio 80.

Further, the contribution also enabled the college to tap a $50,000 grant from the Southern Interior Development Initiative Trust. The $125,000 pushed the revamp of the important teaching space past its $150,000 fundraising target and ensured a brighter future for music students who attend the local post secondary institution.

The Shambhala Music and Performance Hall — as it will be known when it opens in early 2012 — is a perfect fit for the music festival. It forges a partnership between a festival that is a world renowned leader on the cutting edge of live performance with the minds of the future. Both sides in this equation will benefit tremendously in the coming years.

This is certainly not the first significant contribution made by the folks behind Shambhala. In recent years they have given generous sums to the outdoor skatepark effort, the CT scanner drive, the Salmo library and scores of other deserving projects. It’s part of the festival’s philosophy to give back and be involved.

Will this silence the critics who continue to point to the negatives associated with the festival? Probably not. Those who see Shambhala as a mask to a drug-fuelled Sodom and Gomorrah will never be satisfied. Though organizers of the festival continue to provide outreach to skeptics and are constantly taking measures to ensure a safe experience for all, those who refuse to take a hard look will never be swayed.

Organizers of the Shambhala Music Festival should take a well deserved bow. They continue to prove they are a community institution that cares. Well done and bravo.