Kendal Calling has always held a special place in my heart. I’ve been visiting on and off since first attending more than ten years ago, and it’s yet to let me down. Now, with festival number 21 in the books, does it still hold that same magic?
Heading into the site is always a heartwarming hit of serotonin. If nothing else, Cumbria’s Lowther Deer Park is a lush setting for a festival, and the hilly horizon that emerges from behind the main stage looks particularly magnificent this year.
Thursdays are always a bit of a bonus here. For those who have been lucky enough to bag an extra day off, there’s time to wander around the site and soak it all in while things are still a little calmer.
Music kicks off late afternoon, and early joiners are treated to sets from Vacant Weekend, The Cosavettes and Vanessa Carlton, and, after a slightly belated train journey, we’re thankfully set up in time to join for The Cribs, who rattle through a glorious cavalcade of noughties anthems like I’m a Realist, Hey Scenesters!, Men’s Needs before closing with the brilliantly anthemic Be Safe…as good a starting point to the weekend as any.
Image credit: Natalie Argent
The Kooks top Thursday night, lighting up the main stage with a set filled with nostalgic hits such as Always Where I Need to Be, She Moves in Her Own Way and Naive, and one frequented by cascades of flare smoke and joyous singalongs. Away from the festival’s biggest stage, we stumble into a bouncing set from funk-forward newcomers, K-Estate, who literally have the walls of Tim Peaks Diner shaking, and the raucous final few from Hyphen at Chai Wallahs, both of which are welcome rewards for our wandering.
The Vaccines and Scissor Sisters steal the show on Friday
Leading Friday’s highlights, and providing one of the standout moments of the entire festival, are The Vaccines. Celebrating 15 years of What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?, they are electric and deservedly met with one of the biggest and most lively crowds of the weekend.
That’s swiftly followed by Scissor Sisters, who could have had a strong case of being headliner-worthy themselves, but who nevertheless deliver an hour of eccentric, unbridled joy. Two very different ends of the spectrum, but two absolute masterclasses in what the perfect festival set should feel like. Another surprise favourite is Dutch group, Son Mieux, who delight a swiftly filling Calling Out tent, and who, dare I say, have a little bit of Harry Styles about them…
As always, plenty is going on away from the stages. The Lost Eden woodlands, with a ginormous floating earth at its centre, are filled with light installations, the occasional secret performance and the immensely popular Silent Disco. There’s also the Kendal pub crawl, during which you can grab pints of local cask ale from The Stagger Inn, plus, new for this year, a ‘hidden’ speakeasy-style cocktail bar inspired by the Prohibition era.
Image credit: Tom Martin
Biffy Clyro blow Kendal away
Onto Saturday and booking Biffy Clyro was one hell of a get for the organisers. The Scottish rockers are no strangers to headlining festivals twice this size, and naturally, they were top of the list for many we spoke to. After nearly two hours of dazzling, pyro-fuelled spectacle, there was an overwhelming sense that what we’d all just seen was, indeed, incredibly special, and something that would instantly be written into Kendal folklore.
As Biffy close, one half of our group just about makes it over to Parklands’ headliners Doves, whose final few songs sound immense, despite usual frontman Jimi sadly not currently joining live shows due to health reasons. The group close the set with a timely call to save the under-threat Jodrell Bank, a sentiment overwhelmingly welcomed by those in attendance.
Wolf Alice join the big leagues
If Saturday night was about a band firmly established as major festival headliners, Sunday welcomed a group verging on the peak of their powers. It’s been nearly a year since the release of Wolf Alice’s fourth record, The Clearing, which has catapulted them near to the top of the world’s biggest festivals. Tasked with closing out Kendal, they rise to the challenge, and then some. Frontwoman Ellie Rowsell is a genuine force, and the show is magnetic from start to finish. We’ve said for a while that this is a group nailed-on as future Glastonbury headliners, and their stock can only have risen even further after this.
Kendal Calling will return Thu 29 Jul 2027 – Sun 1 Aug 2027. For ticket information, head to the festival website.
Featured image credit: Natalie Argent
- Words:
- Bradley Lengden
- Published on:
- Tue 4 Aug 2026
