KENDAL CALLING IS 20
“ We thought‘ if there’ s not a venue let ' s build one’,” says Smith.“ Having never been to a festival before, I went to Leeds Festival to meet Roy. I remember sitting on the steps of the dodgems; a 17-year-old with a folder of ideas about a new festival on his lap. It’ s very difficult when you ' ve not got a reputation or any experience to book the bigger acts but Roy and the band were up for it.”
“ The first event was staged in 2006 at Abbot Hall Park in Kendal, but we didn’ t stay there long. That first year we got kicked out of the town because it turns out putting a drum & bass act on next to a housing estate isn ' t a great idea.”
The following year Smith and Robinson moved the event to Grate Farm on the outskirts of Kendal, expanded the capacity from 900 to 2,000 and introduced camping. In 2008 the capacity was doubled again, to 4,000, and a third day was added.
“ That was a fantastic event but we accidentally closed down the M6 because we had traffic issues, so we had to move site again and were very fortunate to find ourselves at Lowther Deer Park the following year,” says Smith.
From then on Kendal Calling’ s founders steadily grew the event in size each year, and it is that slow but steady approach to expansion that Smith believes is one of the key factors in its long-term success.
“ One of the secrets of our success is growing slowly – if a tree grows too quickly, it falls over in the wind because it ' s too brittle,” he says.“ It has taken us 20 years to get to a 35,000 capacity, when some festivals debut at that size. We ' ve just taken a very slow scenic route to get to where we are, and along the way we have always listened carefully to the audience and what direction they want to see the festival go in future”
A landmark moment in the development of Kendal Calling was a phone call from respected live agent and co-founder of X-ray Touring Steve Strange.“ He was in LA at the time, and I ' d never spoken to him before,” says Smith.“ He phoned and asked if I wanted to book Blondie. That was breathtaking. It was one of the most amazing phone calls I ' ve
From The Field’ s Andy Smith, Jamie Smith and Ben Robertson( L-R)
“ IT TURNS OUT PUTTING A DRUM & BASS ACT ON NEXT TO A HOUSING ESTATE ISN ' T A GREAT IDEA.”
had in my life. Her performing in 2011 really elevated the festival, it really took people by surprise and certainly made other agents take the festival a lot more seriously, which was very helpful.”
Ticket sales data shows that the vast majority of ticket buyers to Kendal Calling return year on year, and that around 50 % of the audience is made up of locals. For Smith, bringing top-level music and culture to the area he grew up in has always been a key driver.
“ It ' s really important to bring something like Kendal Calling to an area that otherwise doesn ' t have that kind of cultural activity going on,” he says.“ I have firsthand experience of that. I grew up in a small village in Cumbria, and I woke up one day when I was 17 to find that all my friends had gone to university. Even
those who didn ' t care about studying at university went anyway because there was nothing to do at home. It ' s important to have a festival to make an area feel fresh and to give people something to look forward to. We can ' t lose the younger generations in these areas, otherwise the whole economy starts falling down. It can ' t just be made up of a load of second homes.”
With the aim of keeping the event fresh for attendees over the years, aside from updating the offering with new strands of entertainment, new stages and interesting performance spaces, the playful approach of Kendal Calling’ s operators has led
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