Kendal Calling has received a national nomination for its sustainability efforts.
The LIVE Awards, which recognises excellence in live music events, has nominated the Cumbrian festival in ‘The Live Green Award’ category.
It comes after Kendal Calling’s ‘Leave Nothing But Memories’ sustainability campaign led to 98 per cent of tents being taken home after the festival – the largest percentage in festival history.
This year’s festival also had zero food waste, with remaining food sent to food banks, compost and other uses and clocked over 211 hours spent litter-picking in the campsite over the weekend.
Kendal Calling co-founder Andy Smith said: “Taking a step back a few years, the afterglow of Kendal Calling 2019 was tarnished by the abandonment of tents on an abominable scale. An unconscionable number of tents – estimated at more than 2000 – had been left behind by revellers and destined for landfill. Tent abandonment is an infamous problem which plagues the UK festival scene and one which contrasts alarmingly with Kendal Calling’s home on the beautiful Lowther Estate, set within the magnificent Lake District National Park. It was clear we had to pull together and tackle this horror.
“Thus, we launched the Leave Nothing But Memories campaign – and the results were spectacular. Walking through the campsites on Monday afternoon was the difference between night and day when compared to previous years.
“Thank you to every person who packed up and left nothing but memories. It’s an inspiring feat, a huge effort and one that is truly appreciated. Thank you to everybody who played a part and everyone who came and created such an amazing atmosphere of joy and love.”
Alongside the ‘Leave Nothing But Memories’ campaign, Kendal Calling embarked on an extensive programme of sustainability initiatives incorporating festival-goers, staff, traders and artists amongst others to minimise their environmental impact at this year’s festival.
The ‘Leave Nothing But Memories’ sustainability programme will expand into next year, with the festival set to go ahead between July 27 and 30 2023.
The festivals full line up is set to be revealed in the coming months as Kendal once again comes Calling.
