A Canadian music festival offered free, on-site drug purity testing to ravers to curb overdoses, but critics fear its enabling drug users to participate in risky behavior.
The Shambhala Music Festival hosted more than 50,000 people in British Columbia in July, where plenty of festivalgoers indulged in illicit drug use as they partied away to electronic music.
Festivalgoers are often approached by people illegally selling drugs, where they can purchase 'party favors' – such as ketamine, LSD and MDMA – using an encrypted messaging app, The New York Times reported.
But in order to keep people safe, as organizers know they cannot fully stop the illegal act, they offer on-site purity testing through ANKORS, a nonprofit organization that focuses on reducing harm.
Attendees bring their illicit materials to the tent, where volunteers will photograph and test the drugs, as well as educate users on the substances they possess.
While it's meant to make taking drugs safer, as overdoses and drugs being mixed with even more dangerous materials, such as fentanyl, become more common, others don't agree with the practice.
'This isn't going to end well.....' one critic wrote on Instagram.
'Enabling drug addicts is never good for society,' wrote another.
The Shambhala Music Festival hosted more than 50,000 people in British Columbia earlier this month. Like most festival, it is known for its drug-heavy parties
However, unlike other festivals, Shambhala offers drug testing on-site for festivalgoers to use. Pictured: someone enjoying the festival
'Maybe don’t do drugs,' added a third.
Even readers of the Times' report on the on-site drug lab were skeptical, with child safety volunteer Jim Carroll, of Knoxville, saying that almost every parent he saw in the past five years who lost custody rights was as a result of addiction.
'Please do not normalize drug use. In this era of fentanyl laced drugs even "recreational" use is akin to walking a tightrope,' he wrote. 'It's not worth it.'
There were more than 5,600 apparent opioid toxicity deaths, and more than 3,300 stimulant-related fatalities in 2025 in Canada, government data showed.
More than 23,000 Canadians ended up in the ER due to opioid-related poisoning, while 5,000 did for stimulant use, data showed.
With growing numbers, the festival – which does not allow alcohol – decided to get proactive, starting in the early 2000s when ANKORS got involved.
ANKORS originally started as a discreet operation during the festival, but nowadays, festivalgoers are encouraged to get all their drugs tested before using them.
'We’d rather help people than say: "You’re on your own,"' Antoine Marcheterre, a co-manager of ANKORS, told the Times.
He knows people are against harm reduction as a measure of managing illicit drugs, with many in favor of simply telling people not to do them.
Not everyone agreed with the festival offering drug testing
During the festival, ANKORS, the organization that tests the drugs, had to send an alert to warn others that a very potent drug had been found
'It’s a textbook example of what our service can do,' Antoine Marcheterre, a co-manager of ANKORS, said. ANKORS has been testing drugs at the festival since the early 2000s
'They’ll say: "Let’s not spend the money. People should not use drugs." But that’s not the reality of things,' he told the outlet.
The festival did have one scary moment when it had to release an alert strongly encouraging everyone to get their drugs tested as a 'very dangerous substance' had been found.
A festivalgoer brought what they thought was 2C-B, a synthetic psychedelic also known as Nexus, but when it was tested it came back as 25B-NBOH, which is very potent.
The person who brought the drugs to be tested bought them at the festival, causing concern that others could be unknowingly taking it, Marcheterre said.
At a public safety meeting, festival officials decided to put out an alert on the festival's app, reading: 'ANKORS has identified a dangerous substance on site. Exercise extreme caution and test before use.'
Marcheterre said instances like this are the whole point of having ANKORS on site.
'It’s a textbook example of what our service can do,' he told The Times.
The festival started in 1998 when Rick and Sue Bundschuh, who still oversee the annual event, wanted a safer place for their son, Jimmy, to attend raves. They decided to host Jimmy and his friends.
The festival started in 1998 when Rick and Sue Bundschuh, who still oversee the annual event
The first year, 500 people came to party. Festival attendance has since grown to 50,000 people
'It just made sense to have a place where they could, you know, not have a lot of rules but some checks and balances,' Sue told The Times.
The first year, 500 people came to party. Festival attendance has since grown to 50,000 people.
And drugs aren't the only trouble festivalgoers get into. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said they issued hundreds of tickets, including 311 for speeding, and there were 78 drug-impaired driving files during the weekend.
Eleven drivers were also caught on the roads without insurance, which concerned police.
'It’s particularly concerning combined with the high number of speeders. It shows a level of irresponsible decision-making, and we’d like to see safer behavior on the roads that we all share,' Sergeant Michael McLaughlin said in a statement.
Police also ridiculed revelers for driving under the influence, despite warnings.
'We asked people before the event to make sure they allowed drugs to clear their system before driving, but too many ignored that advice,' McLaughlin said.
'It looks like we will have to be back next year, and hopefully in greater numbers, to deal with festivalgoers who are driving unsafely.'
The Daily Mail has reached out to the festival and ANKORS for comment.
