Chat, dance and explore - Glastonbury's Shangri-La goes virtual with 'fully interactive' festival

The creators behind Glastonbury's Shangri-La area have moved festivities online this year with a new virtual reality festival called, Lost Horizon. 

According to NME, Shangri-La will team up with virtual reality platforms VRJAM and Sansar to deliver the two-day festival. 

The Lost Horizon website describes the event as "the world's largest VR (virtual reality) music and arts festival".

"Lost Horizon is a REAL festival in a virtual world. A fully interactive and multi-stage event to explore via PC, VR or mobile app or streamed live and direct to wherever you are on the planet via Beatport and Twitch," the site explains. 

The event will be free to attend and is set to take place on 3 and 4 July. There will be opportunities for attendees to donate money which will go toward The Big Issue and Amnesty International. 

SEE THE LINE-UP HERE:

Performances by artists will be recorded using "green screen technology". "Artists can perform inside the virtual world as themselves or as a bespoke avatar."

But it's not only performers who will be present in the form of avatars - festival-goers will be able to meet people, "chat, dance and explore together" in the virtual world. They will also be able to create their own fully customisable avatars which will "transcend gender, colour and the limitations of the body".