Over 150 dancers and musicians are set to wow the crowds at Kendal Calling next month in a massive parade.
The larger-than-life procession takes place on the Sunday of the festival, which runs from August 1 to August 4 at Lowther Deer Park, near Penrith.
The parade was put together by carnival specialists Global Grooves and producer Freya Bennett-Nielsen, 23, travelled the length and breadth of Cumbria on a mission to find musicians and dancers with ‘big carnival energy’.
Seven groups made the cut, with participants aged from six to 85. They are Boom Dang from Barrow, Blast Furnace Street Band from Ulverston, Eden Dance and BJamba from Penrith, Kendal Dance Academy and Drum Nation from Kendal, and Baybeat Street Band from nearby Morecambe.
The celebratory pageant is inspired by this year’s festival theme, the high seas. In the spirit of all things swashbuckling, the parade will be made up of three main sections, and led by a nautical carnival queen, majestically riding the waves in her horse-drawn cart.
Costumed dancers, giant walkabout puppets and scores of flag bearers will complete the procession, which is influenced by carnival traditions around the world.
Global Grooves is best known for its work on the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Pageant and Bluedot Festival.
Therese Johnston, director of partner organisation Boom Dang, said: “Our members have been asking me for years to get a gig at Kendal Calling.
“But I just never knew anyone that could open that door for us until Global Grooves came along. Everyone is super excited.”
Cathryn Peach-Barnes, creative director, Kendal Calling, said: “This is the largest carnival that Kendal Calling will have staged with more artists and community members than ever before.
“We’re so excited to be a platform for such excellent talent in Cumbria, co-ordinated by phenomenal long-term collaborators Global Grooves.”
