Kendal Calling

Written by: Amanda M

Location: Lowther Deer Park, near Penrith
Duration: 4-day Festival

As part of Cumbria Tourism’s 50th anniversary, the team are trying out 50 different tourism experiences throughout the year – to help inspire your own days out across the Lake District, Cumbria. Amanda MacIntyre and other CT staff members attended Kendal Calling 2024.

This year, a group of colleagues from CT took the opportunity to attend Kendal Calling, one of Cumbria’s largest events and one of the UK’s most popular music festivals. We had tickets for the full weekend, including access for Thursday night, and we decided that we were going to camp for the whole time to get the full festival experience. After finishing work on Thursday afternoon, the 7 campers from team CT made our way north towards Lowther Deer Park, near Penrith.

Immediately upon arrival, there was a buzz of excitement in the air, and we bonded with other fellow campers and attendees on the walk from the car park to the entrance gate. We were careful to double-check all of the information sent by Kendal Calling about prohibited items such as glass bottles and selfie sticks, so getting through the checkpoints and ticket checks was a breeze. After making it through the entrance gate and getting our wristbands for the weekend, we headed over to the Haye Parks campsite to set up our tents and get the “lay of the land.”

We weren’t far from the Co-op building, which made it easy to grab lunch, snacks, and drinks each day – we were all surprised to find that there were DJs, dancers, and strobe lights though! The first night, tired from a day of work and setting up a campsite, we decided to have an early night which meant we were up bright and early on Friday for an exciting day!

  

The walk from our campsite to the arena entrance was about 10 minutes, so after some much-needed breakfast and coffees, we made our way down at around 11am to catch some performances, grab some food, and generally enjoy the festival itself. Kendal Calling has 9 stages, with performances happening all throughout each day. The festival attracts a wide variety of artists and genres, and over the course of the weekend we were able to see some excellent acts, including Keane, Lucy Spraggan, Sugababes, The Snuts, Heather Small, Goldie Looking Chain, Feeder, and Paulo Nutini, as well as cover bands, tribute acts, comedians, and DJs. Each of the stages has a unique vibe and location, and it was great to wander the full arena in between performances to take it all in. A few members of the CT team decided to just come as day visitors to catch a few of the performances, and it was great to meet up with them and fill them in on the stories from the campsite.

 

Although you couldn’t bring food or drink into the arena itself, there were many food and drink vendors serving up tasty dishes of pretty much every variety – there was even a roast dinner stand which unsurprisingly proved very popular on the Sunday! There were also a number of vendors selling everything from hats and clothes to glitter, facepaints, and jewellery to level-up your festival looks. There was also a VIP area called The Green Room which we enjoyed chilling out in between performances. This is an optional add on for your festival experience which includes a dedicated bar with music, extra seating and covered areas, and – most importantly! – access to flushing toilets.

What we feel is so special about Kendal Calling is the wide range of festival-goers of all ages! As a family-friendly festival, there were lots of kids with their faces painted enjoying the performances with their parents, and there were lots of places for families to spend time, including a theatre which played animated and family films, and a dedicated “Kids Calling” area with all sorts of activities for children up to 12 years old. There’s also a dedicated family camping area.

After an amazing weekend, we decided to pack up early on Sunday before the performances, so we’d be ready to set off straight after Paulo Nutini’s headline act to try and beat the crowds leaving on Monday morning. Our campsite was conveniently near the road, with a garbage collection point along the way for our food waste, so cleaning up and getting to the car park was a very straightforward process. We then headed back into the arena to catch the last few performances and of course the headline act!

Overall, it was an amazing experience, and we’re all still buzzing from it and looking forward to going again! 2025 will be Kendal Calling’s 20^th anniversary, so it’s sure to be full of exciting acts and fun experiences.

For more information and to find out how to book for 2025, visit:

The Kendal Calling website

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