Lowther Deer Park · Penrith · Cumbria CA10 · July/August · Four days
Kendal Calling: rain is a planning assumption
Kendal Calling takes place at Lowther Deer Park inside the Lake District, which is the wettest part of England by a considerable margin. At every other festival you hope for good weather. Here you pack for bad weather and treat anything else as a bonus.
Which is not a scenic detail, it is a weather forecast. The fells that make Cumbria beautiful are the same fells that wring the rain out of every cloud crossing them, and a festival field underneath them behaves accordingly.
What Cumbria means practically
This is not pessimism. It is the most useful advice on the page.
Not a pac-a-mac
Jacket and trousers. Four days of Lake District weather defeats anything less.
And spare socks
More spare socks than you think. This is the item people run out of.
Genuinely worth it
A wet sleeping bag on night one ruins the whole weekend.
For the journey home
Everything comes back wet, and it should not come back on the seats.
Kent to Cumbria
One of the longest journeys we run. Times include required rest breaks.
| Pick-up area | Distance | Each way |
|---|---|---|
| Bromley & Orpington | 297 miles | 5h 30m – 6h 40m |
| Sevenoaks & Tonbridge | 300 miles | 5h 35m – 6h 45m |
| Dartford & Bluewater | 303 miles | 5h 40m – 6h 50m |
| Gravesend & Northfleet | 308 miles | 5h 45m – 6h 55m |
| Maidstone & Aylesford | 313 miles | 5h 50m – 7h |
| Rochester & Chatham | 318 miles | 5h 55m – 7h 5m |
| Canterbury & Ashford | 342 miles | 6h 20m – 7h 35m |
Why people do it anyway
Three hundred miles and guaranteed rain, and it sells out every year.
| Reason | Note |
|---|---|
| The setting | Fells on every horizon. No other British festival looks like it |
| The crowd | Famously good-natured, and the weather is part of why |
| Lowther Deer Park | Genuine parkland with mature trees and some shelter |
| The Lakes afterwards | A few days in Cumbria turns the drive into a holiday |
| It is not Reading | Which for a certain sort of festival-goer is the entire point |
A Kendal Calling weekend
Spare socks are the single best advice on this page
Everything else on a packing list is obvious. Socks are the thing people underestimate, and in four days of Cumbrian weather they are the difference between a good weekend and a miserable one. Pack twice what seems reasonable, keep them in something waterproof, and you will be the most popular person in the tent by Saturday.
A dry bag for the bedding is not excessive
If a sleeping bag gets wet on the Thursday it stays wet until Monday, and there is no recovering a weekend from that point. A proper dry bag or even a heavy-duty liner costs very little and solves the single worst thing that can happen to you at this festival.
Consider a few days in the Lakes
Six hours each way is a great deal of driving for four days in a field, and you will be arriving in one of the most beautiful places in England. A good many of our Kendal groups add days either side, and we are happy to drop at the festival and collect from somewhere else in Cumbria later in the week.
Everything comes home wet
Which is worth planning for rather than discovering on the Monday. Bin bags for the wet kit, separate from the dry, so that a coach does not spend six hours absorbing four days of Lake District rain. A vehicle needing deep cleaning afterwards carries a charge and a few bags in the hold reliably prevents it.
Kendal Calling questions
Cumbria, and what to pack.
Where is Kendal Calling held?
Lowther Deer Park near Penrith in Cumbria, inside the Lake District, around three hundred miles from Kent.
How long does it take from Kent?
Roughly five and a half to seven and a half hours each way including required rest breaks. It is one of the two longest journeys on our site.
Will it rain?
Treat it as a planning assumption rather than a risk. The Lake District is the wettest part of England and a festival field underneath the fells behaves accordingly.
What should we pack?
Proper waterproof jacket and trousers, wellingtons, far more spare socks than seems reasonable, and a dry bag for the bedding.
Why does bedding matter so much?
Because a sleeping bag that gets wet on the Thursday stays wet until Monday, and there is no recovering the weekend from that point.
Is it worth the journey?
It sells out every year despite the distance and the weather, largely because of the setting and the crowd. Fells on every horizon and no other British festival looks like it.
Can we stay on in the Lakes?
Yes, and many groups do. We will drop at the festival and collect from elsewhere in Cumbria later in the week.
Is the fare fixed?
Yes, agreed before travel and unaffected by motorway delays.
The long hauls
The far north.