Kendal Calling’s 20th anniversary festival is set to be “phenomenal” its co-founder has said.
Next year will mark 20 years since the festival first began and organisers are promising the three-day event will be a celebration to remember.
From humble beginnings starting out as a two-day party in 2006 to transforming into an award-winning event bringing huge artists including Blondie and Snoop Dogg to Cumbria – Kendal Calling has well and truly made a name for itself.
But after last year’s festival was hailed ‘the best yet’ with over 40,000 people attending the Penrith Lowther Deer Park site – organisers are working extra hard to pull-out all the stops for next year.
Despite the pressure to go above and beyond – over 70 per cent of tickets have already sold and co-founder Andy Smith said the festival team are incredibly excited about next year’s line-up, headliners and plans for the wider festival.
He said: “To have sold that many tickets already is just amazing. This year it really was the perfect festival in so many ways and for its birthday next year we’ve got to make it special, but how do you improve something that’s already perfect?
“But we have absolutely succeeded. Normally I start getting butterflies in my stomach in the spring and summer, but this year I’ve got them right now.
“The line-up we have got is phenomenal, it’s unbelievable we’ve managed to get it this early in the year as well.
“In years gone by we’ve still been waiting on hearing from the artists around this time of year, but this time it has been quite the opposite.
“We’ve had a number of idols of ours coming to us saying they would like to play and that they haven’t been before and that they’ve heard it’s our 20th birthday and that they’ve heard wonderful things about it from other acts on the touring circuit and if there’s space for them and we’ve just said oh god yes please!”
Andy added that while the team always aim to pull out all the stops for every event, that he is confident next year’s festival will be a special one.
He said: “We’ve definitely wanted to pull out all the stops and I think we do that every year anyway, organising festivals is very enjoyable but also stressful, there’s a lot of competing factors in there and there is a weight on our shoulders.
“So with three quarters of the tickets gone, that is a lot of faith people have in us, so it’s really important that we reward that.
“But I think we’ve managed and I think we’ve got some wonderful ideas for next year and not just for the music. I think its gonna be very special for those who can make it.
“And next year’s theme for the fancy dress we do is so good it will be the end of themes. It will be the theme that goes on forevermore and I can’t wait to reveal it.
“It has been many years since we last broke a world record, in previous years we’ve had most people dressed as superman and largest mint cake and we want to break another, so that’s another exciting thing we’re looking forward to as well.”
Andy added that alongside the team being thrilled with this year’s line-up – a lot of planning has also gone into further improving the overall experience of the festival.
He added: “It’s going to be a great music line-up, but we are really going into the general overall experience too and making all the things that are non-musical that much more exciting.
“Lost Eden (the festival’s arts zone in on-site woodlands) has been marvellous over the past few years, so we want to do more of that and go bigger and bolder.
“Since our first festival our musical policy has always been to have something for everyone. Because of us being in Cumbria we wanted something everyone in the village could come along to.
“So that’s been our policy musically and we now want to extend that even further into the arts offering we have, so even if people aren’t interested in music, god forbid, you’ll still have a whale of a time.
“I’ve got a friend who goes to Glastonbury every year for the comedy and that’s where we’d like to be with what we offer.
“That’s the ambition and we’ve got a great team and creative department to work hard and make that happen and over the years we have seen that there’s a demand for it.”
Over its 20 year history – Kendal Calling has welcomed artists from all across the globe and has expanded over time to include interactive art installations, a dedicated children’s zone in Kids Calling, silent discos, party tents for all kinds of music, vendors both big and small partnering with the festival and even the creation of a small on-site cinema.
But it’s a growth that Andy said was something none of its organisers anticipated back in 2006.
He added: “It’s quite dizzying how far the festival has come and I certainly get that feeling every year when we look around and there’s thousands of people and our team swells to 5,000 people during the event and you just think how did this happen.
“When we first set off 20 years ago it started as a big party and it has grown slowly over many years and evolved into what it is now which is beyond our wildest dreams.
“I would have never predicted it would have got to the size it is now and would have some of the acts we’ve had like The Beach Boys and Snoop Dogg.
“But in that time since we’ve started we created so many wonderful memories and we’re excited to carry on for another 20 years.”
Andy added that he feels the festival will continue to grow naturally in years to come – but that there is no grand plan to turn Kendal Calling into a much bigger festival.
He said: “Many years ago I used to say it was the perfect size, but I was wrong. If we’d kept at that size, we wouldn’t have been able to afford things like Luke Jerram’s inflatable earth or the fire garden or comedy stage.
“But the only times we’ve ever grown the festival is when we’ve had a wonderful idea and if that means offering more then we need to open the gates to more.
“It is strange because 20 years is a very long time, but in many ways it feels like it’s just found its stride. But it has really grown into something that is very fully formed and is no longer just about the music.
“When we first started out it was purely about the music and now the music is obviously still front and centre, but we’ve got all this other excitement going on around it, which adds more. It’s now also about creating the perfect party.
“Often, you buy the ticket for the headliner, but that’s rarely best moment, it’s always something unplanned and spontaneous that people enjoy the most.”
While there are no big long-term plans in store for the festival – Andy said they have unusually managed to book a big act for 2035 – the event’s 30th anniversary.
He said: “There are no long term goals other than to have a wonderful gathering every year forever, so the future will always be informed by the previous festival and we’ll be there as long as people turn up.
“I can’t say who, but we have booked our first act for 2035 for our 30th anniversary. There was someone who is very sad as they approached us earlier this year and really wanted to play next year but said they can’t.
“I said it was no problem, but they asked for my address and a few weeks later we got a contract from them as a little scribble on a post it note saying this is a contract to say I will play the smallest stage first on, no fee in 2035.
“I can’t wait to reveal who that is as they’re quite a popular, large Kendal act and will certainly be back, if not but to honour their contract!”
After years of marriage proposals, secret sets, first time performances on stage, weddings, world records being broken, a baby being born and more happening in the fields – Andy, who also met his partner at the festival, said he felt that what makes Kendal Calling special is the people.
He said: “Without getting too sentimental about it, my niece is 12 years old, so watching her grow with it and enjoy the different parts of it coming out of Kids Calling and wandering around and enjoying it and the comedy on the evenings has been special.
“It’s interesting because you see the festival through different eyes and it’s a surreal feeling but it’s the people that make it all special.
“Like any good house party it’s all about the people who are there, and Cumbrians know how to party, that’s Kendal’s core strength.”
