There was a very prominent theme running through this year’s Kendal Calling festival lineup: heavyweight nostalgia interspersed with incredible rising talent. The Kooks started off strong on Thursday night, followed by Two Door Cinema Club and Biffy Clyro on nights two and three, while Wolf Alice brought the whole festival home on Sunday. Perhaps something to do with this being the twenty-first year of Kendal Calling, the whole four days was awash with twenty-something years worth of callbacks. 

Looking beyond the top billed names though, there was so much more to be celebrated this weekend in the Lakes. It’s not hard to see why the festival holds beloved status with so many Northerners, and it’s just got itself a new fan: me. 

Thursday’s so-called ‘warm up’ day was anything but low-key, with appearances on the main stage from Manchester-based indie band The Covasettes (featuring an on-stage fan proposal to boot!), and Vanessa Carlton who provided one of the most wholesome moments of the whole weekend: rapturous applause erupted when she played the first few notes of ‘A Thousand Miles’: “So you know it?” she asked cheekily. Know it? The audience belted out every lyric in unison, with Vanessa taking it all in during a pause in the song.

“We’re the Cribs from Wakefield,” bassist Gary reminded everyone in between songs, yet the crowd knew exactly who they were and let them know enthusiastically, proving that 20+ year-old songs hold just as much power today. They absolutely tore up the main stage with an energy that rode out through the rest of the weekend. 

Everything led up to the evening’s headliner, The Kooks, who are embarking on somewhat of a celebratory circuit of festivals this summer in celebration of 20 years (there’s that number again!) of Inside In/Inside Out. So much love for the Indie band poured out from the audience, which included a real mix of fans who'd loved them from the start and others just discovering them. Magic. 

The sun continued to shine as we headed into Friday, with everyone fired up for the day ahead. Keeping the 20 years theme alive and well, Hard-Fi took to the main stage in the afternoon sun for their first performance at the festival. Back with a new album, the band’s first in 15 years, ‘Sweating Someone Else’s Fever’, they treated the audience to both classics and new material.

The Snuts, on something of a roll in 2026 and no strangers to a festival, kept the energy up before the headliners took over. They shared the afternoon with bands who’ve long proved their staying power: The Vaccines, then Scissor Sisters, who brought some NYC energy right out the gate. For a band who sing ‘I Don’t Feel Like Dancing’, they absolutely got everyone on their feet from start to finish. 

Over in the parklands tent, Ash got the crowd bouncing, Tim Wheeler greeting fans by holding his signature Flying-V aloft and launching us into a set which took everyone to ‘1977’ and back again. We still love you, Girl from Mars.

Headliners Two Door Cinema Club brought the visuals to match the songs as they closed out the night, with a set largely shaped by the 15th anniversary of Tourist History and their greatest hits, a whole catalogue of festival favourites which had the whole field bouncing rather than filming, anthem ‘What You Know’ ensuring the phones were well and truly put away. 

Saturday rolled in with the energy still climbing, and a line up with something for all tastes. Gabrielle brought the emotional classics to the main stage, with a set that turned into one big singalong full of ‘oh I forgot she sang this!’ moments, the crowd matching every bit of energy she gave them, none more than when she broke out into an uplifting rendition of ‘Dreams’. 

Dreams certainly did come true for me when The Libertines turned up early, no less, as Pete Doherty stood at the back of the stage surveying the crowd moments before launching into a rapturous opener of fan favourite ‘The Delaney’. Earlier in the afternoon he’d surprised fans with a secret acoustic set at Tim Peaks Diner, a pre-game warm up for the main event which had the whole field on board as the sun went down. 

Watching Pete and Carl mic-share never gets old, while their performances of newer material from All Quiet on the Eastern Esplanade proves that the songwriting is still right up there. ‘Don’t Look Back into The Sun’ closed the set followed by group hugs and Gary Powell launching four drumsticks into the crowd as a goodbye. 

There was a time when I defined major life events as things which occurred when The Libertines were a band, and things which happened when they were broken up. Photographing them from the pit will now, firmly, be filed under the former, a genuinely seminal moment in my photography career.

As the crowds came together for Saturday’s headliner, signs in the crowd became more numerous, one summing up the excitement best: ‘Mon’ the Biff. And ‘mon Biffy Clyro did. Beginning their behemoth set with an explosion of fireworks, pyrotechnics and visuals working hand in hand with the music. 

“Who needs a match when you’ve got a f*cking flamethrower, everybody?” Frontman Simon Neil literally wielded one over his head at the beginning of the aptly named ‘Who’s Got a Match?’ which sent the audience into a complete frenzy. Not hard to see why festival goers have been saying Biffy Clyro must be the best headline act Kendal Calling has ever had. 

Sunday was always going to have Saturday’s big shoes to fill, and for many people finding the energy for the fourth and final day of Kendal Calling meant they had to dig deep. Those billed to perform, however, brought it in spades: Primal Scream, the Lathums, Red Rum Club and Florence Road all rocked it on the Main Stage before Wolf Alice’s much-anticipated headline slot. 

A real highlight for me, not just of Sunday but the whole weekend, had to be a thirty minute set on the Woodland Stage by Girl in the Year Above, who seemed genuinely shocked that anybody had turned up to watch their set at all. The packed photographer pit said it all: this is a band to have eyes on. Frontperson Jennifer Ball not only enchants with her haunting vocal ability, she also charms with an authentic self-deprecating aura: she had the whole crowd singing along to their unreleased song ‘Wet Paint’ within the first twenty seconds. With only 3 songs currently on Apple Music, I had to make do with putting them all on loop on my hour-long drive home. Hooked. 

Wolf Alice weren’t going to let Kendal Caling go out with a whimper, showing everyone exactly why they won Group of the Year at this year’s Brit Awards during their Sunday night headline slot. A triumphant Kendal Calling debut, judging by the energy of the crowd alone and putting any doubts to bed about whether or not this festival can attract the big guns. Can’t wait to see who’s playing next year.