Ahead of this month’s hugely anticipated sell-out Kendal Calling, the festival reveals the latest additions to its robust sustainability programme. ‘Leave Nothing But Memories’ celebrated spectacular results in 2022 with year one of the campaign seeing a whopping 98.02% of tents taken home. This summer, Kendal wants to do even more and is calling on its festivalgoers to join forces to minimise their environmental impact at its beloved home, Lowther Deer Park.
Gamers assemble! Kendal Calling launches Flappy Tent, the (highly addictive) new game designed to raise awareness of the impact of leaving behind tents and litter at festivals. Play the game now here.
Introducing Flappy Tent! Imagine this: It’s the day after the festival, and regrettably, 284 festival fans have left their tents behind. Now, these tents have become untethered and are soaring across Cumbria and the North West! Join Kes the Kestrel as he takes flight to transport the tents to a landfill where they will decompose over a period of 500 years. After all, what did you expect would happen to abandoned tents? To emphasize this crucial message, Kendal is offering a £200 bar tab at the festival for the first person to reach a score of 50,000.
In 2022, Kendal Calling experienced a remarkable reduction in tent wastage, with only 284 tents remaining, marking a staggering 91.4% decrease from 2019. This accomplishment can be attributed to the festival’s environmental efforts and the ‘Leave Nothing But Memories’ campaign, which earned them a prestigious Live Green Award nomination at The Live Awards 2022. This year, Kendal Calling aims for an even greater improvement on this already impressive statistic. Located in the scenic Lowther Deer Park in the UK’s Lake District, Kendal Calling encourages all attendees, including fans, staff, and artists, to contribute towards keeping the site pristine, leaving nothing behind except cherished memories.
“According to Andy Smith, Co-Founder of Kendal Calling, last year’s audience embraced the plea to leave Lowther Deer Park as they found it. The remarkable result was a 91.4% decrease in abandoned tents. However, rather than becoming complacent, Kendal Calling has partnered with Takekiyo and Hiroaki San from Japan, who manage the band Taffy, to create Flappy Tent. This initiative serves as a reminder of the consequences of littering and offers a chance to win free beer at the festival. Andy Smith shared his highest score of 31,000 and wished everyone good luck!”
Kendal Calling stands out among other UK festivals by prioritizing environmental sustainability. With an industry-leading sustainability program, their dedicated efforts continue to expand each year. Working closely with experts, they aim to safeguard the beautiful Kendal Calling location and inspire attendees to make positive changes. Their mission extends beyond their festival, aiming to improve sustainability in music festivals worldwide. To achieve this, Kendal Calling asks all visitors to adhere to a simple pledge when entering the site: ‘
- LEAVE NOTHING BUT MEMORIES: Leave your camp tidy and take your tent home!
- PROTECT THE WILDLIFE: Throw your rubbish in the bin
- CONSIDER YOUR TRAVEL: Use public transport where possible!
- ONLY BRING WHAT YOU NEED: Use resources consciously
- MAKE ECO CONSCIOUS CHOICES: Keep your green impact in mind when at the festival
Festivalgoers can sign the pledge here!
In preparation for Kendal Calling this month, here are a few of the diverse sustainability initiatives that will be implemented throughout the venue:
- To keep campsites clean throughout the festival, Kendal is encouraging festivalgoers to tidy their camps before heading into the arena and there’ll be a new Campsite Crew on hand to help festivalgoers keep the Campsites as clean as possible.
- Waste and recycling points have increased by 200% to make it even easier to recycle and reduce the amount of waste taken to landfill this year.
- The decor team will be focused on reusing and recycling prior festival materials rather than using brand new products. When new materials are required, the emphasis is on renting goods as close to the festival site as possible, and on using sustainable materials, and incorporating local artisans wherever possible.
- This year, the festival has an overall goal of reducing fuel usage from 2022 by 15-20%. To achieve this, a Power Manager has been employed to actively work with stakeholders in advance and onsite to ensure they are being as efficient as possible with energy use.
- The festival is increasing use of solar, battery and load on demand solutions, especially during longer build and break periods, and is using efficient LED lighting solutions wherever possible across the site.
- Single use plastic is banned on site so all drinks will be served in recycled or compostable cups. This saves up to a tonne of carbon emissions every 10,000 cups saved!
- All food traders have committed to serving at least one vegetarian/vegan meal. They have also been encouraged to use local produce where possible! Vegetarian meals contribute 2.5x less carbon emissions than those with meat.
- 10% of global greenhouse gases comes from food that is produced, but not eaten! To further reduce food waste, Kendal is working with organisations like Open Kitchen MCR who can put it to good use and avoid it going to landfill.
- What’s more, Kendal is involved in supporting industry schemes to improve sustainability across the festival sector. This includes ecolibrium+ pioneers focused on travel carbon reduction and Vision2025 Citizen-Science Festival Waste Data Project. Backstage organisers are working with Earth Percent which was founded by Brian Eno, Raising money from the music industry for the most impactful environmental charities.
- With the Lowther Re-wilding Project, Kendal will be planting a tree for every ticket sold.
This summer, the UK festival will have its largest sustainability department ever. With a team of over 20 members, their main focus is studying and supporting behavioral change among the audience, sponsors, and traders throughout the weekend. They also aim to quantify tangible statistics and results to drive continuous improvement in the future.
These examples represent a novel change in the festival industry, going beyond addressing environmental concerns. Kendal Calling aims to be more than just an enjoyable weekend of entertainment and togetherness, but also a pioneer for other festivals, paving the way towards a brighter future.
Get ready for an unforgettable summer at Kendal Calling 2023! Leading the charge as mega headliners are Nile Rodgers & CHIC, Kasabian, Royal Blood, and Blossoms. But that’s not all—prepare for a lineup packed with unmissable acts like Kaiser Chiefs, Scouting For Girls, Rick Astley, The Lathums, Example, Confidence Man, Circa Waves, Melanie C, Natalie Imbruglia, and more. With unrivalled entertainment and fun for all ages, this festival in one of the UK’s most beautiful sites is not to be missed. Explore every corner of Kendal Calling and uncover a world of eclectic entertainment that will intrigue and surprise you. Join us for a very special weekend in July, where there’s always something new to dive into.
The dates for Kendal Calling in 2023 are July 27th to July 30th.
