Shambhala Music Festival hits pause on virtual event following sexual assault allegations

BC’s largest music festival has hit pause on an upcoming virtual event following sexual assault allegations made against a performer.

Already on pause for 2020 due to COVID-19, the annual Shambhala Music Festival in Salmo, BC, had plans to host an online version of the event before allegations against UK artist Billy Kenny began to surface online.

After careful consideration, Shambhala Music Festival has removed Billy Kenny from the Shambhala at Home Digital Stream Event. We take any allegations of assault, whether it be physical, verbal or sexual, very seriously and we do not condone that behaviour in any way. pic.twitter.com/wOpx34HgzL

— Shambhala Music Festival (@shambhala_mf) July 14, 2020

Kenny was originally scheduled to perform during the online festival, but was removed following the allegations before Shambhala completely canceled the event.

The DJ initially responded to the first allegation calling his behaviour "unacceptable" and "inconsistent with who I am today" before deleting all of his social media accounts.

Shambhala has since responded with its own statement, where organizers promise to conduct extensive background checks for artists.

“In light of the allegations against past and present artists on our performance roster, we recognize that forms of sexual violence exist in our society and we take accountability for the role festivals play in this,” reads the statement.

“We would like to offer our sincerest apologizes to all of those affected and thank those who displayed the courage to speak out.”

Important update regarding harm reduction and Shambhala at Home 👇 pic.twitter.com/jn6q971Z5j

— Shambhala Music Festival (@shambhala_mf) July 17, 2020

Organizers said they were also pausing the festival’s social media activity while staff review their code of conduct.

It’s not clear if or when the July 23-25 event will be rescheduled.