KENDAL CALLING IS 20
Lost Eden
to it staging a series of Guinness World Record attempts, including successfully hosting the largest gathering of people dressed as Superman.
“ We almost got the record for the largest Kendal Mint Cake, and we tried to get the record for the most people doing the moonwalk, but it was a wet year and it turns out it is very hard to do the moonwalk in mud,” laughs Smith.
It may have sold out every year for two decades but, like every festival, Kendal Calling was not immune to the impact of the Covid pandemic. The festival was one of a number sold by Global to Superstruct in April 2019, and during the pandemic Superstruct strengthened its holding in Kendal Calling.
Says Smith,“ The pandemic was a massive challenge. We really didn ' t anticipate the price shocks that came through. Everything increased, but some things absolutely walloped us. We managed to increase ticket prices to cover costs, but it wasn ' t ideal because we sell around 50 % of the tickets in the local area, and in Cumbria, like many rural counties, the average wage isn ' t high. We didn’ t want to price out locals, so there was a real balancing act between us producing the best show we could and being able to make it affordable.
“[ Superstruct ] founder James Barton is brilliant, and so was the former CEO
Roderik Schlösser. After just one meeting with them we knew we were in really safe hands; they are people who understand and care about festivals. We worked very closely together during the pandemic, and it has worked extremely well since.”
Another key part of the wider Kendal Calling machine is a partnership with independent Manchester-based production company Engine No 4. Smith has history with the team, having gone to work for a stint with its co-founder Jon Drape at Ground Control Productions in Manchester in the very early days of Kendal Calling.
“ We already had two festivals under our belt, and it was a full-time job working on it but there were quiet weeks when I was concerned I would fall into delinquency if I didn ' t have something to occupy me,” says Smith.“ I was keen to professionalise, and they were great; it was a very eye opening experience understanding the relationship that they had with events, and really understanding why people don ' t do production in-house. We wanted to concentrate our efforts on promoting and pass the production to professionals because you can ' t do both to the best of your abilities. We chose to work with the people we knew, and we have had a very long relationship with them since; it’ s been marvellous.”
Engine No 4 director Jim Gee began working on Kendal Calling in 2014 as site manager, and in recent years has worked even more closely with the From The Fields team as the festival’ s project director.
“ They are a very good team who started off as young, relatively naïve, kids wanting to put a festival on,” says Gee.“ They ' ve matured and grown up with the industry but they ' ve still got a passion for it. They are effectively still those same enthusiastic kids from 20 years ago. They absolutely love that gig, they put their heart and soul into it, and it ' s a pleasure working with them.”
Looking to the future, Smith is now focused on trying to better what he says was the best Kendal Calling yet.
“ This year we spent a lot of time talking about getting an extra 10 % out of everything, and we really delivered. It wasn ' t like there were new areas or new stages, or necessarily new offerings, but everything that we did have there was just that bit better. For example, we ' ve had Lost Eden for 10 years, and that ' s always been a beautiful late-night wonderland, but this year we really elevated it by having the world premiere of Firefly Forest: a stunning new overhead light installation with 20,000 lights suspended in the trees. That just took people ' s breath away. By elevating everything across the site it made it the perfect show.”
Says Gee,“ They don ' t sit on the laurels; every single year that I ' ve worked with them on Kendal Calling they have found something to focus on and improve. A lot of that is about customer experience. They have got the music right, the venue right, the setup right, and they’ ve invested loads in the decor and art side; making the sight look amazing.”
“ I’ m excited to develop the immersive art side of the event more,” says Smith.“ There ' s still a lot of new things that we can do. We ' ve really stepped it up this year but we ' re not batting at the level we would like. Often what people remember most about a festival is something that has taken them by surprise, so our focus is on giving people fresh experiences and creating those memories.”
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