The Sunday morning air carries the promise of one last dance and the gentle recognition that all good things must transform. 

 

Because make no mistake: what we've planted here at Shangri-La together will grow long after the last bassline fades. Perhaps nothing encapsulates this truth more than Return to Earth in The Allotments. The immersive sculpture by Lizzie French and Lorcan Staniland centres around a landscape of decaying matter from which fresh greenery emerges. The concept invites us to contemplate the eternal cycle of death and renewal: a perfect meditation for our festival's final day. 

 

Choose the right path in Shangri-La today and you'll discover Realm, where forgotten folklore characters await those brave enough to seek them out. This theatrical experience offers the chance to be guided by mysterious guardians through a landscape where William Darrell's magical kinetic sculptures tell stories older than memory. The Realm exists in that liminal space where ancient tales meet modern wonder, where visitors become part of the narrative rather than passive observers. 

 

The Shangri-La community has spent 18 years cultivating something deeper than entertainment, more like a social movement. And this year, we've taken the big step to move away from social media, and reclaim our own physical and digital spaces.

 

So, rather than feeding the almighty algorithm, we're making longform films, which tell the story of this year's Shangri-La, and will be screened after the festival in actual cinemas. This newsletter, too, has served as a way to share news of the field with directly with the community, without helping to enrich a single billionaire along the way. Get your friends to sign up and let's continue the conversation into 2027.

 

Sunday's energy turns toward rest and regeneration, as we move towards a fallow year for the festival; that essential pause that makes rest, relaxation and future growth possible for both the land and its people. Shangri-La continues in this spirit today, from the Rhizosphere workshops exploring how soil relationships mirror human connections, to the Hope Garden's demonstration of how imagination can bloom into reality. 

 

Also, did you know that it's not just digital spaces we own now? Shangri-La has also acquired land, outside of the festival, so we can continue to grow and develop these beautiful plants and evolve beautiful ideas for years to come.

 

This year, the South Asian sonic uprising known as Azaadi has been a vital highlight of Shangri-La. They've bridged music, politics and joy in ways that demonstrate community as resistance, art as activism, celebration as revolution. This is community as practice: people actively building alternative structures while the mainstream world continues its patterns elsewhere. We can't wait to see Sukh Knight (8pm), Suchi (9pm), Shana G (10pm) and Kiss Nuka (11pm) bring proceedings tonight to a jubilant, thunderous close. 

 

On your way, pick up the special zine we've been producing in the Grow Room throughout the festival. It's a meaningful souvenir you'll want to cherish, not to mention one more in the eye for corporate social media.

 

Anticipation has been building as word spreads… In case you haven't heard, tonight brings a Fatboy Slim 'secret set'; now revealed to take place from 4-6 at Shangri-La. The promise of this music legend has added an extra burst of electricity all round, with smiles spreading faster than festival gossip. Hands this afternoon will most definitely be in the air.

 

Let's keep this joy going, far beyond the field. We humans aren't separate from nature, we're part of it, and the greening of Shangri-La has brought that focus back to our minds, bodies and souls. 

 

So Sunday isn't a sad ending but a joyous transformation. While we arrived as individuals, we leave as mycelium; connected beneath the surface, ready to fruit again when conditions are right. The final dance awaits, and with it, the celebration of everything we're carrying forward.