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.
Noughties throwback Lemar announces special 20th anniversary gigs in Manchester and London
Danny Jones
The one and only Lemar is back now only with new album but two special shows to mark his 20th anniversary in music.
A chart-topping, BRIT and MOBO award-winning artists who rose to popularity in the early 2000s, Lemar has sold millions of albums worldwide and is now returning with his first new record in nearly eight years.
Having released his latest 80s funk inspired new single, ‘Future Love’, today (7 February) and officially announced his upcoming seventh album, Page In My Heart, the noughties pop and R&B artist is back on the scene and thought it only fit to pay tribute to 20 years in the biz.
Two decades on from his debut album, Dedicated, Lemar is hosting a pair of anniversary shows in London and right here in Manchester. Now this is going to be quite the throwback.
Best know for hit tracks like ‘It’s Not That Easy’, ’50/50′, ‘What About Love?’, ‘Another Day’ and many more, the 44-year-old returns to the stage with a new sound but one that also calls back to his roots and early work.
Speaking in a statement, Lemar says: “With this new album, I wanted to make something for anyone who ever bought Dedicated, as this year is 20 years since its release. I thought I’d like to make something for the people who got behind that album, something that they would appreciate and like.
Descirbing his new single, he went on to say, “it’s more uptempo, it’s got that soulful feel, it’s a bit looser, a bit Chaka Khan. A bit ‘Dance (With U)’… it’s got that kind of energy to it.”
The Tottenham-born singer hasn’t been ‘away’ per se, having continued to perform up and down the country in recent years, but both he and his fans have been waiting “patiently” to get the right collection of songs together to release new material.
His last album, The Letter, released back in 2015 and delighted die-hards but he says this latest project is about reconnecting with his fans, insisting that “it really is a page from my heart.”
Lemar will celebrate two decades of music and the 20th anniversary of Dedicated live with two special nights at O2 Ritz here in Manchester and London indigo at The O2 on the 27 and 28 of April, respectively. You best believe we’ll be getting one.
Tickets go on sale on 10 February at 10am. Tickets will be available HERE and at Ticketmaster.
Neighbourhood Weekender announces massive warm-up show with Ian Brown, Happy Mondays and more
Danny Jones
Neighbourhood Weekender has announced a warm-up show on the Friday before the festival proper kicks off, with the likes of Ian Brown, Happy Mondays and more already confirmed.
With Neighbourhood 2023 set for the weekend of 27-28 May as festival season gets into full swing, the increasingly popular Victoria Park-based crowd-pleaser is effectively starting a day early with their ‘Live At The Big Top’ event.
Although the local favourite has previously put on a number of performances on the Friday before the Warrington Weekender as we know it, this is the first time this event has been held and will serve as a warm-up show for the impending gig-goers.
What better way to get the party going?
We're so excited to announce Neighbourhood Weekender presents ‘Live At The Big Top’ featuring @ianbrown, @Happy_Mondays, @castofficial & @CVCband_ at Victoria Park, Warrington Fri 26th May!😎
Effectively acting as a warm-up party for the main event, the North West crowd will be treated to the likes of 80s and 90s Manc music icons Ian Brown and Happy Mondays, as well Liverpool indie band Cast and up-and-coming Welsh psych-rock band, CVC, a.k.a. Church Village Collective.
The lineup also denotes a landmark occasion, with this being the first time that Brown and Happy Mondays — two of pioneering artists of the ‘Madchester‘ scene — are sharing the same bill in their long and illustrious careers. Well, aren’t you a lucky lot?
While we’d say this is an absolute must if you truly want to make a full go of Neighbourhood Weekender, this is technically a separate event and it’s well worth attending if you can’t make it on the Saturday or Sunday for whatever reason.
Tickets go on sale at 9.30am on Friday, 10 February. You can grab yours HERE.
The Manc -
30th June 2020 
