Sunday at Kendal Calling 2024 sees the return of the annual themed parade. The theme for this year is ‘The High Seas’, with fancy dress enthusiastically encouraged. From pirates and mermaids to sharks and squids, the crowd is awash with swashbuckling outfits.
Any hints of festival fatigue following last night’s colossal headline display from The Streets are jovially dismissed when comedy folk band The Lancashire Hot Pots step out on the Main Stage. Dressed in colourfully coordinated outfits and accompanied by a pair of backing dancers, the six-piece joyously conduct the crowd to take part in a light-footed barn dance.
The good-spirited energy is dialled up a notch with the arrival of Royel Otis. The Aussie indie rockers do their best to dodge the rain showers while playing a merry selection of surf-rock and jangle-pop. A spritely cover of Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s ‘Murder On The Dancefloor’ bridges the continental gap.
Manchester alternative rockers Pale Waves are next to take to the Main Stage, clothed in gothic leather. The gloomy quartet perform a shimmering rendition of ‘Perfume’ from their forthcoming album, Smitten. Lead singer Heather Baron-Gracie struts between her bandmates with formidable fashion. In an apt show of pathetic fallacy, the heaven’s weep as the band adheres to their curtain call.
Keen to escape the persistent showers, revellers cram themselves beneath the Parklands Stage tent. Former England and Manchester United footballer Gary Neville steps behind the decks with Tim Burgess for an unprecedented back to back display.
As twilight draws ever nearer, Sheffield likely lads The Reytons attract a mammoth audience to the slopes of the Main Stage. Channelling Northern charm with a barrage of blistering anthems, the band spins narratives reminiscent of the stories told on Arctic Monkeys’ debut album.
For the final act of a magical weekend, Scottish singer-songwriter Paolo Nutini performs a two-hour anthology set. ‘Acid Eyes’ offers a seldom moment of serenity for tired-out campers at odds with ‘Pencil Full Of Lead’, one last dance for those with unspent energy left in the tank.
With ringing ears and weary calves, festival goers trudge beyond the pastures towards the mundanity of Monday morning. As the sounds of the weekend fade away, the memories of Kendal Calling 2024 will be sure to persist with performers and punters alike. “You may leave the Lake District, but once you’ve been, the Lake District never leaves you” reads the flashing exit signs.
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