With masks, social distancing and furlough, it’s been a tough few years for British festivals.
Kendal Calling has bounced back from a Covid-enforced hiatus, with a packed lineup and ambitious scale.
The Lake District staple has billed itself as being accessible and family-friendly, while still offering a traditional music festival feel.
With two children, aged nine and 12, we set off up the M6 in the hope of them developing a finer appreciation for ‘mum and dad’s music’.
Our journey to Lowther Deer Park - slightly closer to Penrith than to Kendal - goes smoothly until we enter the site and hit a 90 minute-long queue into our designated campsite car park.
From there we manage to find our pre-pitched tent and off to explore the site itself. Kendal Calling started back in 2006 with just a few hundred people, a field and a PA system.
Over the years it's morphed into one of England’s biggest music events, hosting household name acts and building up a loyal following.
The footprint of the site is massive - boasting an enormous main stage and over a dozen smaller stages and performance areas, as well as cinema tent, kids area and facilities including massage tents, phone charging and storage.
A lot of time and effort has gone into creating the Lost Eden forest zone, with an attractive light up display and more chilled out forest stages for acoustic acts.
The lineup for the four-day event is generally geared towards a more mature crowd, with headliners The Stereophonics, Supergrass and Bastille fondly remembered by festivalgoers in their late thirties and older.
While there’s plenty to entertain younger audiences, support acts including Sophie Ellis Bextor, Craig David, Gabrielle and Hot Chip, consolidate the nostalgic vibe.
Want to feel old? Why not browse one of the stalls selling 90s and y2k vintage clothing? Or count the number of dads wearing their third or fourth Nevermind T-shirt.
Regardless of age, this year’s 25,000-strong crowd had plenty of energy to burn off.
Many people we spoke to described themselves as regulars, some traveling hundreds of miles from far flung parts of Scotland and Ireland. There were hardly any large or boisterous groups (we didn’t spot any stag or hen parties) and the overall feeling of the festival was friendly, safe and relaxed.
While there was never any question of battling with the kids to the front of the crowd, we find a nice hillside spot to watch The Cribs (allowing a brief - but, in my mind, meaningful - discussion about Johnny Marr and the legacy of the Smiths).
It wouldn’t be a proper British Summer without some precipitation. Fortunately we packed up our wellies and waterproofs before setting off - and the festival’s tented cinema allows a welcome shelter from the downpour.
At night time, the mood shifts into proper festival mode, with a busier crowd. We watched an energetic set from The Stereophonics, whose lead singer Kelly Jones is frighteningly untouched by the aging process.
So this takes us to the central question of just how family-friendly was the festival?
During the day there were plenty of young families on the site and a number of child-focused events such as an animal-themed costume parade.
There is also a dedicated Kids Calling playsite. This took up a relatively small area, but included a range of activities including a twice-daily theatre show, arts and crafts, dance performances, and a bouncy castle.
The focus was for families with babies, toddlers or younger kids - and included a couple of chill out tents for feeding and changes.
For our children, who weren’t quite old enough to be interested in the headline acts, a little too young to be distracted by the playzone, and a little bit overwhelmed by the nighttime crowd, it didn’t quite hit the mark.
However there were many other families in attendance who seemed to be having a great time.
There were a few minor gripes: we struggled to get band info (the programme lanyards had sold out by the time we arrived). Our camping location, on the Deer Lodge site, was among the nearest to the festival area - was still a bracing uphill walk away.
But on the positive side, it’s no mean feat to organise a festival of scale in the middle of the Lake District, there was a great programme of acts, the site was well-provisioned with foodstalls and an extensive range of camping/glamping options, and there was a clear environmental focus. More importantly there was a friendly, upbeat vibe to the festival which you don't get everywhere.
If you are looking for something to keep your children entertained for the weekend, there are other festivals out there which have a stronger family focus. But if music is your thing, Kendal Calling is a good, safe and relaxed option for introducing children to a music festival environment.
