After a wet Friday night at Kendal Calling 2024, Saturday sees the sunshine return to Cumbria. Indie rock rookie Melanie Baker takes full advantage of the balmy weather to deliver a breezy, upbeat performance to a bright and enthused midday crowd.
Kendal Calling boasts a diversity of entertainment, ranging from DJ and unicycling workshops to stand up comics. Famed funny man Russell Howard amuses a good spirited audience onlooking the sun soaked Main Stage. Revellers are reduced to hysterical laughter by Howard’s quips and quick wit.
As the afternoon wears on, Mancunian band Corella are met with a warm reception, vowing to “bring the party” to the Cumbrian hillside. Ensuing cuts ‘Barcelona Girl’ and ‘Puppet’ make good on their promise, inciting an urgent canter to the closest mosh pit. Lead singer Joel Smith takes the opportunity to join the rowdy audience, crowd surfing gleefully.
Tucked away amongst the dense tree line, the Woodlands Stage hosts Irish shoegaze band NewDad. The quartet’s moody, atmospheric aura lends itself to an apt cover of The Cure’s ‘Just Like Heaven’. Bristolian six-piece Home Counties take to the same podium, cleverly utilising cowbell, recorder and synthesisers as the rays of sun begin to dissipate behind the lofty branches.
While the glitzy Sugababes throw a singalong party on the Main Stage, Welsh indie rockers The Royston Club garner a devout following beneath the Calling Out big top. Playing cuts from their debut album including ‘Mrs Narcissistic’ and ’52’, The Royston Club are touted as torchbearers for the renaissance of British guitar music.
Saturday night’s hardy headliner Mike Skinner, known by his moniker The Streets, proves his age to be no object, diving head first into the crowd for his first song. A makeshift wall of death with participants dressed as Pokémon is hastily commanded, no sooner to be dissolved in a melee. Skinner performs an array of high octane garage tracks recalling experiences from his younger days, telling stories of heartbreak and cruel hangovers.
In the wake of The Streets’ colossal headline display, the festivities persist into the early hours, with silent discos and dancing lasting all night long.
Featured image and gallery: Lucy Elson-Whittaker Sunday may signal the final day of Truck Festival 2026, but there’s still plenty to celebrate before the gates close for another year. From rising indie stars Keyside to the long-awaited return of Rizzle Kicks, festival favourites Circa Waves and headliners The Wombats, these are the performances that define…
Featured image and gallery: Lucy Elson-Whittaker It’s Saturday at Truck Festival 2026 and, somehow, the sunshine is still holding out. The weekend’s biggest day is packed with indie heavyweights as The Vaccines, Kaiser Chiefs and Two Door Cinema Club deliver the soundtrack to a generation. In between the nostalgia, Adult DVD provide the perfect excuse…
Featured image: Lucy Elson-Whittaker After CMAT’s unforgettable set on Thursday, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Truck Festival 2026 had already peaked. But with the weekend only just getting into its stride, there’s still plenty more to come. Friday is packed with a lot of artists worth catching, from The Love Buzz and My First…
Featured image: Press The gates have finally opened for Truck Festival 2026, and for the third-year running, the weather could not be more perfect. Beneath clear blue skies at Hill Farm, Oxfordshire, the iconic Ferris wheel is spinning once again, the Truck Monster is roaming the fields, and thousands of festival-goers waste no time filling…
Leave a reply