A huge virtual reality festival from Glastonbury’s Shangri-La team is happening this weekend
Users will be able to navigate their way through four stages of music via PC, VR or mobile app (iOS and Android), diving onto dancefloors, discovering secret headliners, and wandering into art performances.
An enormous, interactive virtual reality dance music event is streaming across the globe this weekend.
The team behind Glastonbury’s legendary Shangri-La, in partnership with VRJAM and Sansar, have announced the launch of Lost Horizon – the world’s largest VR music and arts festival.
Taking place on July 3 and 4, Lost Horizon features an line-up of superstar DJs, underground acts and visual artists – with proceeds going to The Big Issue and Amnesty International.
Users will be able to navigate their way through four stages of music via PC, VR or mobile app (iOS and Android), diving onto dancefloors, discovering secret headliners, and wandering into art performances.
Guests can even interact with fellow festival attendees as they explore the site.
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Alan Fitzpatrick, Carl Cox, Eats Everything, Fatboy Slim, Francesco Mami, Jamie Jones, John Digweed, Mella Dee, Nastia, Pete Tong, Sasha, Seth Troxler and Skream will all feature on the bill, among many others.
The SHITV (Shangri-La International Television) stage will be showing films, documentaries, theatre, live art, comedy, animation and talks, along with a special Nomad stage featuring artists from 24hr Garage Girls, Amen4Tekno Records, Born on Road, Critical Records, Hospitality, Hold Tight Records, Kaotic Kartel, Run Tings Records and UnCommon Records.
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More than 200 visual art pieces will also be on display at the festival, whilst Design Manchester has curated an exhibition around the main music stage.
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.
Creative Director, Kaye Dunnings, said: “Shangri-La has brought many world firsts since its creation in 2008, from the first to use video mapping in a festival environment and an immersive storyline, to the first woman only space or Heavy Metal area at a mainstream festival, incorporating creativity at its core and as a direct response to the world we live in.
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“Our mission is to pioneer new ways of sharing culture and creating a global community that we feel defines us and our ethos.
“We need unity more than ever right now, in an industry that is falling away in front of us. By creating a digital platform to experience art and music in a new way, we are at the forefront of defining the next generation of live entertainment and creative communities as we know them.”
Sheri Bryant, President of Sansar, added: “Now more than ever, fans are looking beyond traditional live shows to connect with the artists they love. They’re online, they’re savvy about streaming, they’re eager to experience music unconstrained by where they live, and there’s a clear demand for events that transcend old boundaries.
“With Shangri-La presents: Lost Horizon, we’re delivering the music festival of the future: deeply immersive, fully online, accessible to anyone and anywhere with a PC or phone at their disposal. Shangri-La presents: Lost Horizon exists at the vanguard of something truly incredible, and we couldn’t be more excited to turn this page.
“The future of live events is virtual and we’re incredibly excited to be bringing it to fruition.”
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Lost Horizon tickets are free but if you can afford to contribute, you can purchase a ‘premium’ ticket with proceeds going to charities.
Social media unite in search for ‘crazed’ fan who stole drum from AO Arena gig last night
Thomas Melia
This past weekend, people online began pulling together to try and find a fan after they stole a drum from a major music artist’s concert at the AO Arena on Sunday night.
When you say the words, “I’ll never forget that gig”, it usually means you had a really great night and, for this fan in particular, we think it’s fair to say that they be forgetting this night anytime soon – you know, many because they took a piece of the set home with them.
That’s right, following Twenty One Pilots’ massive Manc gig at AO Arena as part of their ongoing world tour, some fans were practically frothing at the mouth as the alternative duo did what they do best.
In fact, one individual clearly loved the concert so much that they just had to claim a keepsake, to such an extent that they want as far as steal band member Josh Dun’s drum directly from the stage.
As far as merch and memorabilia go, that might just be the biggest souvenir we’ve ever seen someone swipe from a rock show.
In terms of the night itself, the highly anticipated return to Manchester was a huge success, with the band playing out to flurries of red, orange, yellow and black, thanks to fans sporting the same colours as Twenty One Pilots‘ latest album cover, Clancy.
In the video, the drum – which features the band’s logo on a red-splattered drumhead in the Clancy aesthetic – can be seen being carried out of the venue by a fan from the general standing floor area.
As a result, not only did people on social media quickly begin sleuthing and trying to find the drum thief, but they’re also questioning why fans near the culprit weren’t doing more to get it back to the band.
One user wrote, “Ok but like I would have stopped her?” while another commented, “So I was scared to even take too much confetti with me and she casually STOLE THE DRUM??”
The fan who originally uploaded the video online aid in a subsequent post, “Guys, please, don’t put us to blame for not stopping her, we did all we could but literally no one around us cared about it.” They went on to add: “You’re not putting the blame of her stealing the drum on us, I’m sorry but I’m not having it.”
As you can see, the instrument was eventually located, with Twenty One Pilots’ videographer Sax uploaded a picture to his Instagram profile along with the caption, “We have the drum”, thanking fans for all their efforts in helping track down its whereabouts.
Featured Image –Ashley Osborn (publicity picture /@tillitaint (via X)
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Olly Murs at AO Arena, Manchester – tickets, times, setlist and more
Thomas Melia
The ‘Troublemaker’ himself, Olly Murs, is ready to cause some more chaos and this time he’s returning for his second night in Manchester with boyband Blue.
X Factor and British star Olly Murs is embarking on his latest UK arena tour, which does feel a little bit ‘likely lads’ on tour-esque with a helping hand from UK boyband, Blue.
Back in the late noughties, it was hard to escape the blazer-wearing, top-hatted, popstar as he was dropping back-to-back bangers like ‘Heart Skips a Beat’ and doo-wop inspired ‘Dance With Me Tonight’.
Now, this cheeky-chappy is embarking on the ‘15 Years Of Hits – Live 2025‘ tour, where he’ll be belting out all those classics as well as some more recent tunes too. Here’s how he sounded last week:
There are just a few tickets left for Olly Murs at AO Arena, so make sure you bag yours before your ‘Heart Skips a Beat’ HERE.
Olly Murs 15 Years Of Hits setlist
Olly Murs is coming to AO Arena in Manchester this week.Credit: Marcos Moreno via Wikimedia Commons
This Essex chap might have a solid setlist which he follows night in and night out, but he’s no stranger to being a bit ‘Unpredictable’. I mean, he is bringing a flamethrower on stage with him…
After being on our screens and airwaves for almost two decades, it’s no surprise that this setlist is lengthy, totalling at just over 20 songs – give or take the 80s medley weaved into the mix.
Who doesn’t love a bit of ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ paired alongside Murs’ stacked setlist?
Troublemaker
Right Place Right Time
Please Don’t Let Me Go
Thinking of Me
Oh My Goodness
Heart Skips a Beat
Kiss Me
Army of Two
Hand on Heart
Up
Die of a Broken Heart / I Found Her / Dancing on Cars / I Hate You When You’re Drunk (Marry Me Medley)
Seasons
You Don’t Know Love
I’m Your Man / Never Gonna Give You Up / Livin’ On a Prayer / Beat It / Careless Whisper / I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) / I’m So Excited (80s Medley)
What are the stage times for Olly Murs in Manchester?
AO Arena has a strict curfew of 11pm, meaning concertgoers can be ‘Wrapped Up’ in the Essex popstar’s hits without having to worry about getting home too late. It’s a school night after all!
Doors for Olly Murs’ 15 Years Of Hits – Live 2025 are scheduled for 6:30pm with a start time of 7:30pm and support from 2000s UK boyband, Blue.
The BRIT-winning, Eurovision-performing, chart-toppers are back together once again and about to take us back to pop school as we quickly re-learn the words to boyband textbook classics ‘All Rise’, Best in Me’ and more.
How to get to AO Arena
Olly Murs sporting his usual blazer and top-hat style back in 2013.Credit: InfoGibraltar (via Flickr)
Tram
For those of you heading to AO Arena, luckily, it’s connected to Manchester Victoria Station, and it has an integrated Metrolink stop to make your life even easier.
Head along the pink, light blue or yellow lines directly to the Victoria stop, and you can get off the tram literally spitting distance from the arena. You can find the full map HERE.
Train
Considering this live entertainment venue is situated right in the middle of one of Manchester’s most frequented stations, concertgoers should find no problem getting to the arena, wherever they are.
Bus
A variety of buses cover AO Arena and Victoria Station on their route, such as the 2 bus, which stops just a one-minute walk away from the venue.
A full list of buses and their routes can be found HERE.
Getting there by car and parking
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The Arena has its own official CitiPark, with 958 car parking spaces including 40 Blue Badge parking bays, which can be booked in advance.
Alternatively, anyone attending a gig can park at their nearest train station and jump on a train service or the various Metrolink park and ride facilities.
Walk/cycle
Greater Manchester now also offers the option to hire bikes through the Beryl app, with riders able to locate, unlock, get to their destination and then safely lock up the bike all through an easy-to-use app.
The Manc -
30th June 2020 
