Attractions

MAIN STAGE

This truly stunning outdoor arena with it’s natural amphitheatre lined by ancient Oak trees plays host to an array of handpicked international and current artists.

By day sit beneath the trees and soak up the sounds, by night be part of epic star lit headline performances.

GLOW DANCE TENT

Expect a diverse dance line-up bursting at the seams across all genres with everything from house to disco, drum and bass to dupstep, electro to breakbeat and everything else inbetween. Renowned DJs and live dance acts from the UK and around the globe will be making sure you’re dancing your socks off throughout the weekend.

KAYLIED TENT

A contemporary twist on traditional music with everything from internationally renowned music artists to local folk heroes. Non-corporate, grassroots at it’s finest. A celebration of tradition in every sense of the word.

The Kaylied stage will feature a diverse showcase, taking a traditional area & revelling in the love of cross-genre music. A mixed bag of eclectic delights will take to the Kaylied Stage with everything from folk to ska, soul to punk, electro to folk-pop, northern soul to Americana.

This year the Kaylied stage has been curated in conjunction with Global Local, an Art's Council England funded project showcasing the hottest emerging talent at Festivals across the country. www.globallocal.co.uk

On Sunday night we've got a very special treat in store as our regular DJ to close the festival Craig Charles is back but this time with his very own show...

"After two storming years of funking and closing the festival, it was an absolute pleasure to be asked back for a third by the KC team, but this time to program my very own tent... AWOOGA!! Expect a hand picked line up of some of the best funk & soul artists in the UK – (right now!)"

Craig Charles

CALLING OUT STAGE

New music, new music, new music! A variety of styles and genres with one thing bringing them together - a thirst and energy for performing! This is the place to witness the most exciting new music from across the UK.

MONSTROUS GARDEN

KC has teamed up with one of the masterminds behind the phenomenal Arcadia area at Glastonbury and is proud to present the Monstrous Garden...

Enter a world where the green things take on a new life and relax if you can in the Monstrous Garden, where things in the undergrowth are not always what they first seem...

Fireflies come to life at nightfall, and strange animals prowl around high above. Come dressed as an ugly bug and join the parade of the weird and wonderful creatures of creation.

Monstrous Garden hosts the Kaylied Stage, where artists from the worldwide underground scene bring their eclectic musical vision to the Lake District. From new takes on folk to old school bluegrass, from Geordie bluesmen to legendary Zimbabwean musicians get your musical education here.

Spiced daily with some serious funk and soul, the Monstrous Garden is one of the best alternative areas of the festival. Rock up on Saturday for an Ugly Bug Hoe Down with Cut a Shine, the most dynamic barn dance band on the planet.

THE SOAPBOX

The Soapbox Stage returns bigger and better this year and is home to comedy, spoken word and storytelling, special Q&As, DJs and features a headline set from Mr B The Gentlemen Rhymer, Tim Burgess DJ set, Dave Haslam, poet laureate Marvin Cheeseman, George McKay, Dicky Dippinson, hilarious country band Bushpig, The Sky Muffins, Skint & Demoralised and Witch and the Robot. There will be poetry each afternoon from the likes of Mike Garry and Chris Jam before dusk descends for some live burlesque.

Soapbox comedy comes from the likes of Mitchy Benn, Silky, Jim Smallman and Barry Dodds. Not to mentionGary Delaney, Danny McLoughlin, Chris Turner, Martin Mor.

Expect to be enchanted, enlightened, and entertained

RIOT JAZZ

In 2010 the Riot Jazz Cafe was where the dawn of  Jazz met the high-noon of the Cold War on the evening of  tomorrow’s future. It didn’t need to make sense - everybody was too busy dancing.

That was last year: this year we’re leaving the far-flung shores of  America and heading back to Blighty - to Royal Britannia! In honor of  the Summertime and all things eccentric and British, we’re dusting off our Top hats, pressing our tailcoats and trading in the 1950s for the 1850s. Ladies and gentlemen, boys
and fashion labels, without further ado, we cordially invite you to... RIOT JAZZ THE GREAT EXHIBITION.

In the creative and ludicrous victorian world; all things are eccentric and of course British. Think “Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang: Beyond Thundredrome” with all the drippings.

The festivals best kept secret step up with a celebration of Victorian mayhem purveying a zoo of exotic jewels, freak shows, crazy inventors and the finest selection of world music. Riot Jazz Stage will feature the inhouse Riot Jazz Brass Band, Extra Love, Paper Tiger and Rastamau5 to name just some of the round-the-clock live acts.

THE HOUSEPARTY

The House Party, described by the Guardian as ‘A perfect night out, you’ll be dancing one minute and talking broken biscuits in the kitchen the next’.

Kendal Calling are opening up their living room back by popular demand, because everyone loves a houseparty right? Expected the unexpected and plenty of shennighans as this will be one hell of a par-tay!

Friday will start with a bang with special guests and Houseparty favourite DJs manning the decks and much more.

New for 2011 is Hip Hop Saturday featuring beatboxer Jack Bee, DJ Helz, Oldboy, Taste the Diff’rence, Pogo and gamesPimp My Ride, Hip Hop photobooth, Hip Hop wheel of fortune not to mention free gin & juice cocktails for the best dressed & house party dollars to spend on tat!

New for 2011 is Cleanse Your Soul day on Sunday... The House Party choir and the reverand will start at 11am with a service and sing song and they'll be Northern Soul dance classes and workout. Chippy Nicholls and Tobin Lochrie will lead the throng in an afternoon of the best northern soul moves to get everyone limbered up. Tim Burgess DJ set - The Charlatans lead singer will keep the northern soul vibe going into the afternoon and Manchester's kings of asbo disco El Diablos Social Club will host the evening and deep into the night. The Houseparty will be brough to a close with "One of the UK's best clubnights"  (MIXMAG, 2010) Clique with their Sunday night disco.

More info (and plenty of surprises in the fields!) coming soon...

HAPPY SLAP BOUTIQUE

The Happy Slap Circus are out in force, bringing with them a ridiculous feast of misbehaving shenanigans. Hosting a tent that’s overspilling with music, walk around performers, games masters and make up artists ready to fun up your face. Don’t miss the mustache musketeers hosting group games of mustache jenga and ‘Pin the Mustache on the Freddy Mercury’.

On Saturday Happy Slap Circus host an Ugly Bug Ball inviting everyone to dress up as insects and try some cricket hopping, dung and spoon race and much more but watch out for the fly swat team!

Also don’t miss the Animal Dance Master Championships, Rave Aerobics, Human Jukebox and Zebra Burlesque.

GET IT LOUD IN LIBRARIES

New for 2011 is the Get It Loud In Libraries stage. The Library massive will host live music over the weekend and be open for books, tea, cake and Rockanory (bedtime stories read by rock stars of course).

More info coming soon...

KIDS AREA

At Kendal Calling and like to see all ages having fun together. Bring the kids along to enjoy workshops on percussion making and music; movement and mask making; and settle down for a bit of storytelling and puppetry. There will also be an array of games and activities throughout the day - and all of this is free!

THE LADYBIRD PROJECT

At Kendal Calling we like to see all ages having fun together. Bring the kids along to enjoy workshops on percussion making and music; movement and mask making; and settle down for a bit of storytelling and puppetry. There will also be an array of games and activities throughout the day - and all of this is free!

The Ladybird area will be loved by adults and children alike, returning with a programme full of quality performance and craft workshops for all with a different theme each day.

More info on thie area coming soon...

GARDEN OF EDEN

Our very own Garden of Eden within the Eden Valley… This utopian garden where east meets west provides the perfect backdrop for true escapism. Indulge yourself in the garden that celebrates the east - from Morocco to Japan. Place your wish on the Elysium tree “a place of ideal happiness” in the fields. Go for a massage, treat yourself to a therapy, try homeopathic treatments, or simply relax in an area of serenity away from the rest of the festival buzz whilst you prepare for another evening of indulgence.

FANCY DRESS SATURDAY - BEASTS & MACHINES

After the huge success of our 1st Fancy Dress day for our 5th Birthday Party last year we just have to have it back but this time with a theme...  After going through numerous gallons of coffee and intense email debating, here at KC HQ we have come up with a frightful theme for your garment choices this year.....BEASTS AND MACHINES. The further you take on the transformation from mere Kendal Caller to supreme dress up maverick, the more at home you will feel around the Kaylied Stage this year in our new Monstrous Garden where the even remotely human looking are forbidden. Alternatively, if you are one to defy weird and wonderful nature and are more inclined to bionic tendencies then head over to Riot Jazz where this year, steely Victorian decadence is all the rage. Think steam trains and Titanic grounded in a muddy field and you’re on our page.

Leave your subtle-dressing tendencies at home please. We want carnivores, bizarre creatures and sci-fi carnage! Possibly channel some 80s Doctor who, snatch ideas from your childhood TV favourites or study a few David Attenborough episodes for inspiration. The more glitter, feathers and warhammer paint the better, but be safe folks, we don’t want to be the culprit for initiating war of the worlds 2. So step it up people, release your inner-chubaka, be the Optimus Prime you always yearned to be and have a free-willy of a time.

As well as Beasts and Machines you could also opt in to join in with The Housepartys Hip-Hop Saturday and you never know your costume might even earn you a free gin and juice (heavy on the gin) cocktail much to all you wannabe rappers delight!

We’ll be holding a photo shoot on Saturday afternoon in front of the main stage to capture all of you in your crazy outifts… make sure you get involved :)

THE VILLAGE GREEN

There is nothing better than finding a little common ground and meeting some new faces. You will find delicious treats to eat and a relaxed atmosphere anytime of day and by night a bustling vibe.

SONGSMITH SOLAR STAGE

Striving to be as environmentally friendly as possible, Kendal Calling have booked Songsmith Solar Stage for this year’s event. Complete with eco friendly, quality soundsystems this stage is inspirational in it’s own right; not to mention the feast on fantastic artists who will play on it! Acts include The Lovely Eggs, Harp and a Monkey, The Flat Cap 3, I am Blackbird, Tank and Trumpet and many more.

KENDAL CALLING REAL ALE FESTIVAL

Returning after it's debut last year where the tent was drunk dry... Kendal Calling will once again be hosting it's very own real ale festival, featuring a selection of real ale from the Lake Districts best breweries including the festival’s very own tipple Kendale! Held onsite at our festival pub The Holy Quail the real ale festival is supported by CAMRA & will be a festival within a festival allowing revellers to sample some fine beers while soaking up the atmosphere.

SAILOR JERRY