Shabang grows with its crowd, drawing locals and wanderers into one shared rhythm

As concertgoers passed beneath the wooden entry arch on the afternoon of May 2, the portal into San Luis Obispo’s annual Shabang Arts, Music & Camping Festival was opened, and all worries were once again left at the gate. The rolling hills of the Dairy Creek Golf Course were transformed with playful wonder, brimming with aerial silk artists, colorful sculptures, a free pickle stand and a group of wizards waltzing to the barricade for their favorite artist. 

Since its introduction to the San Luis Obispo music scene, Shabang has transcended the college audience it was founded for and has built a secret world for travelers from near and far to escape to.

Cal Poly finance lecturer Sharon Dobson was among the first to arrive. Once past the entrance, she took a sharp left turn past the various food trucks and vendors, heading straight to the electronic dance music stage of Funk Safari. DJ sets from headliners Jungle and Kream caught her eye and brought her to the festival once again, and she was ready to rave in broad daylight. 

“My philosophy is, there’s no problem, big or small, that can’t be resolved with dancing,” she said among the younger crowd. “You’re never too old to have fun and dance.”

Dobson has been a loyal Shabang patron since its early days, when Cal Poly students attempted to escape the noise regulations of house shows by heading to Cuesta Ridge for a night of live music, with ticket prices at just $5. 

As the event gained traction, it moved to Laguna Lake before the current golf course location. With growing attendance, bigger headliners and increasing ticket prices, Shabang continues to blossom each year.

Dobson continues to purchase tickets because she believes in the community of Shabang and music’s ability to create a space outside of the ordinary. She is no longer grading students’ tests but standing beside them as they scream their favorite songs.  

The lecturer believes there is magic in “being with people, like-minded, who share a joy, no matter what political or religious beliefs. We are connected and bonded through the music,” Dobson said. “Dance it off.”

The once-empty golf course was soon packed, as clusters of people filed in to find a spot to see the artists they had bookmarked in their schedule builder, a new feature launched as a part of the Shabang app to help navigate the festival.

With the sinking sun cast upon the Laguna Lake stage, the otherworldly build-up of Slow Pulp’s “Do You Feel It?” consumed the landscape. Launching their set, the indie rock band kept fans’ momentum flowing, with tracks “Slugs” and “Falling Apart,” accompanied by a beach ball hopping throughout the gentle waves of the crowd.

 A warm smile colored the faces of attendees as lead singer Emily Massey exclaimed, “This place is so beautiful,” and surely, many knew she meant more than just the location. 

As day became night, the festival continued to gleam. The moon was outlined by thin strobes of color for Funk Safari goers, and people in every direction were hushed by the overlapping beats of Jungle’s top hits. There was nothing to do but dance, with the understood silence overcoming a sea of music under an illuminated sky. 

The following afternoon, across the map from the neon lights of Funk Safari, 25-year-old Conner Chapla sat in a white bucket hat overlooking the smallest stage between sets. Chapla flew in from Dayton, Ohio after receiving sponsored advertisements about his favorite bands performing for the festival, but stuck around to discover the stars of the Central Coast.

The pink and purple canopy of the Cuesta Ridge is the hub for the local bands of Shabang, as well as indie bands such as Almost Monday and The Kilans. 

Following Santa Barbara band Big Hungry, who kicked off the Saturday afternoon, San Luis Obispo’s very own Toad prepared for their hour-long set after winning Battle of the Bands in April.

“It’s neat because I found a lot of artists that I’ve liked so far, like ones that I probably wouldn’t have found otherwise,” Chapla said. “Then obviously seeing my big headliners like Goth Babe and Wallows is really cool too.”

For bands like Toad, Shabang is an opportunity to extend their outreach to outsiders like Chapla, while surrounded by supporters in San Luis Obispo.

A diverse crowd of fans and strangers waited patiently for them to begin playing, but most notably, their loved ones were front and center, ready for the big moment. 

“It means recognition for all the hard work they’ve put in over these four years, where they’ve really been playing so many shows and working so hard to get to where they are right now, that it’s really paid off,” said Sophie Hugh as she looked over at her boyfriend, Casey Brant, on the drums.

In front of Brant was guitarist and lead singer Annie Pagel. The lead singer’s parents, who are Cal Poly alumni Susan and Darrin Pagel, drove from Roseville to be there for her performance. 

“I just think it’s amazing to get to experience music, music is like therapy,” Susan said. “I mean it’s a gift to be a part of it. It’s such a beautiful art, and I mean, what a cool place to experience it.” 

The moment was especially heartfelt for the couple as Darrin was also in a band during his time as a Mustang. Returning to the Central Coast to watch their daughter perform at the area’s only major music festival was a full-circle moment, they said. 

“I love that it converges in the center in such a beautiful place and people from Norcal and Socal,” Susan said, as bands from across the coast shared the stage of Cuesta Ridge. 

Indie band Almost Monday was among fan favorites, as their San Diego sound brought an eternal summer to the spirit of listeners with songs “Sunburn” and “Jupiter.” 

While the festival attracts people from the big cities to the novelty of the Central Coast, it also brings the residents of differing Central Coast regions to San Luis Obispo, such as 23-year-old Santa Barbara resident Emily Calkins.

 “A lot of people just drive through [the Central Coast] on the 101 and I think it’s worth it to stop,” Calkins said, yoga mat in hand. “We got the wildflowers blooming and the weather is almost perfect, so there’s not much to complain about.”

After getting off work on Friday morning, Calkins grabbed her camping to-go bag and left for her solo getaway weekend. She pitched her tent at the Shabang Campsite of El Chorro Regional Park and began day two of the festival with a yoga class on the University Stage.

With clouds sitting overhead and wind that had yet to clear, she remarked that the activity was a good way to stay warm, enjoy herself and appreciate all that got her there.

The beauty of the Central Coast was a primary factor in 54-year-old Los Angeles resident Joey Mendelsohn’s decision to come to Shabang. He journeyed to visit his son in Santa Barbara before landing in San Luis Obispo for a night of live music and nature, as he anticipated the dawn of Jungle’s DJ set.

“It’s such an eco-friendly festival, they’re so positive,” Mendelsohn said. “It’s a college environment and everyone’s so free and it’s all about what life is.”

And the college environment does not end with Cal Poly students, as word of the festival extends. Daniella Fink, a 20-year-old University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) student, made the trip up North with her fellow Gaucho friend after she heard about the music festival from other UCSB students talking about their experience with Shabang. Fink said she likes how the festival can unite people from distant places together to listen to music on the rolling hills of San Luis Obispo.

“It draws together a really niche point of contact between everyone that loves music like this,” Fink said. “It’s very diverse, but at the same time, you’re also relating to people that have the same interest as you, which I think is really interesting.”

For Cal Poly students, the festival is of special interest because it gives them a chance to connect with their classmates in a completely novel setting. 

“We only have the opportunity four times in our life to go to a music festival that’s literally just everyone from your school,” said Cal Poly anthropology and geography junior Emily Goetz.

Whether wearing long flowing skirts and chain belts on the walk to listen to the indie tunes of Laguna Lake or in pashminas and sunglasses in spirit of the Funk Safari stage, groups of students frolicked throughout the grass, passing vendor booths, face painting and the food trucks parked amid the movement.

Acting as a focal point of the festival, a cream tarp was positioned over a wooden stand, drawing in passersby for a moment of creative release amongst the chaos of the crowd. The immense structure was accompanied by various colors of paint in plastic cups that gave people the opportunity to add whatever artistic declaration they desired to the plain canvas.

The activity was a part of the Open Walls Collective, an initiative started at the University of California, Davis, serving to promote community engagement in art by setting up installations in unconventional places for public participation. 

“Just seeing all these people make artwork together gives me goosebumps,” co-founder Tom Neill said as he rinsed stained paint brushes, wearing white overalls splattered in bright colors, contrasting a neon orange beanie atop his head. 

Behind him, a woman was cradled, pressing her paint-covered feet onto the vivid canvas. From brushstrokes of “Free Yourself” to “Save CP Swim and Dive,” aside the large depictions of the sun and stars in bold colors, the canvas was full of individuality and life in no time, with her pink footprints marking the newest addition.

“It’s been awesome just to kind of step back and honestly just watch it,” Neill said. 

Under the same awning, racks of fur coats and vintage clothing were sold by various vendors, including sister duo Celeste Shoop-Cohen and her little sister Marisol, who sported matching glitter lying below their eyes. Shoop-Cohen started her brand, Thrift Joy, in 2020 and has since made it a full-time gig.

The brand, blooming out of San Diego, first appeared at Shabang last year. The duo particularly loves that it is a festival they can drive up the coast to get to, taking the extra time in San Luis Obispo to explore the surrounding areas and coastlines. 

The opportunity to spend time in a beautiful place with each other, among the cool vendors, music and coordinators, they said, is what made them come back for more.  

This year, they worked to curate their selection more towards the college audience, bringing more inexpensive clothes to appeal to a large portion of “Shabangers.” 

The idea of festival attire remains a prominent part of the Shabang experience, as people spend weeks planning and curating their perfect festival outfit. However, for some, the decision of what to wear is not only easy but obvious. 

Nate Cunningham came to Shabang with his friend Corey Messner and thought the festival presented the ideal occasion for him to throw on his red and white striped shirt and beanie, creating a continuous game of “Where’s Waldo” for festival goers. 

Cunningham was not the only one with plans to treat the festival as a mini costume party, considering various people dressed as Waldo and another three draped in purple wizard cloaks flocked around the golf course. 

“No matter who the lineup is, it’s a cool thing to come see and get to dress up with my friends,” Cal Poly business student Chloe Ghibanesce said, as she rested with a friend to enjoy a Sugar Lips donut. 

Whether it be for the serenity of lying in the grass while listening to local indie bands or the euphoria of getting thrashed around a packed audience under beaming lasers and booming bass, Shabang had something for audiences across the board.

On a hillside overlooking the entrance on one side and the Funk Safari stage on the other, aerialist and San Luis Obispo local Liz Crosby returned to Shabang with the goal of teaching people to walk on each other’s shoulders, after successfully instructing audiences on the art of crowd surfing last year. She brought a team of Cal Poly students to perform on the silks in what she called a passing of the baton for her art form. 

Crosby appreciates the excitement surrounding Shabang, comparing it to her college experiences of attending the early days of Coachella, while remaining intimate with familiar faces abundant in the swarms of people. Unlike most mainstream music festivals, Shabang continues to mature in parallel to its audience, generation after generation.

As the Shabang clock began to run dry, Briston Maroney looked at the crowd, knowing there were just hours left before everyone had to return to real life.

 “Can we just scream because we are here, and we’re alive?” Maroney asked, igniting a chorus in the thousands of people packed into the Laguna Lake crowd. 

When Dylan Minnette of Wallows took the stage in the final moments of Shabang 2025, he also had one request. 

He asked each person in the crowd to dance more vibrantly than they ever had before, and that they did. As the first chord of “Are You Bored Yet?” rang out under the blue and purple lights, unity rang out with it.