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Kendal Calling 2025 line-up, how to get there and gate times

Kendal Calling 2025 line-up, how to get there and gate times

BBC News3 days ago
Tens of thousands of music lovers will be taking to the fields later as one of the biggest UK festivals begins. About 40,000 people are expected to attend Kendal Calling, at Lowther Deer Park near Penrith, in Cumbria, where Kaiser Chiefs and DJ Fatboy Slim will headline. From just 900 attendees in its first year, the four-day festival is celebrating its 20th year. Founder Andy Smith previously described its growth as "quite extraordinary".Here is everything you need to know ahead of Kendal Calling, which runs until Sunday.
What time does it start and are tickets available?
All tickets for the festival have sold out.However, organisers are encouraging those who have missed out to join their waiting list on their partner site, Tixel, for safe, last-minute, fan-to-fan resale.They added that no tickets will be available to buy at the gates. Gates for the campsite open at 09:00 BST and will remain open until 21:00 for those with Thursday entry tickets alongside their full weekend tickets.On Friday, gates are open from 08:00 to 21:00, and between 10:00 and 21:00 on Saturday and Sunday. The campsite will close at 14:00 on Monday.The arena opens from 16:00 on Thursday with music beginning at 17:00 and 10:00 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.Organisers said those aged 11 to 15, with weekend tickets, must be accompanied by a ticket-holding parent or guardian over the age of 21 - and must camp in the same area as their families. Teen ticket holders - aged 11-15 - are not allowed in the arena unaccompanied after 22:00. Adult ticket holders aged 16-17 must have ID to allow them to enter the festival without an adult.
Who's in the line-up?
More than 100 artists will take to the nine stages across the site, including the return of Kaiser Chiefs, who will kick things off on the main stage on Thursday. The Courteeners will headline on Friday, while Fat Boy Slim takes over on Saturday and The Prodigy on Sunday. Pop singer Daniel Bedingfield, who had a string of hits in the early 2000s, will headline the festival's Parkland's stage, with Scouting For Girls and Maximo Park also featuring. Sophie Ellis-Bextor, The Wombats and comedian Jason Manford are also set to make an appearance. Full details of the festival's stages are available via Kendal Calling's website.
Stage times are not released ahead of the festival but acts are split across nine stages, which include:Main StageParklandsCalling OutWoodlandsChai WallahThe SoapboxTim Burgess' Tim Peaks DinerDesert Island DiscoThe Town Hall
How can I get there?
The festival at Lowther Deer Park is 25 minutes north from the market town in Cumbria.Organisers are encouraging the use of public transport as part of their sustainability goals at the festival. A number of coaches are in operation on Thursday and Friday, returning on Monday, with tickets still available via their website, travelling from: Barrow-in-Furness, Birmingham, Blackpool, Bolton, Bradford, Carlisle, Dumfries, Glasgow, Kendal, Leeds, Liverpool, London Victoria, Manchester, Newcastle, Preston, Sheffield, Stockport, Sunderland, Warrington, Whitehaven, Wigan and Workington.The nearest train station to the festival site is Penrith, which is a 15-minute taxi journey. Organisers are also running a shuttle bus service from the train station. There are also shuttle buses that run from Penrith station to the site, which run on Thursday, Friday and Monday. The times are:Thursday 10:00 – 18:45Friday 08:30 – 19:15Monday 06:00– 13:15Further details can be found on the festival's website.A designated pick-up and drop-off point is also located at the festival's Green Gate, which has road signage.
Car travel and road closures
Organisers are warning that traffic can be busier when travelling on a Friday and are encouraging drivers to either arrive on Thursday or make their journeys in plenty of time. Those travelling north are being advised to leave the M6 at junction 39 and head through to Shap on the A6, and then follow signage. Those travelling south should leave the M6 at junction 40 and head through to Penrith via the A66, and follow the festival signage. Car parking tickets can be booked in advance or be paid on the day at an extra cost, organisers say, and are urging festival-goers not to park next to their tent but in designated car parking areas.
Roadworks taking place on the A66 from Kemplay Bank Roundabout in Penrith, which include 40mph speed restriction, may cause congestion, organisers have warned. They said to allow extra time for travelling, stating on their Facebook page: "If arriving on Friday, we'd recommend avoiding arriving between the hours of 12:00 BST to18:00 to avoid the bulk of traffic in the local area owing to the Center Parcs changeover day, end of week work traffic and of course, the influx of festival-goers."Cumbria Police said it was expecting travel disruption with busier than normal roads in the Eden area.
Security and safety
In the run up to the festival, police said it had been been working closely with organisers and local authorities to ensure all attending had a safe and enjoyable time.Officers will be in place around the site and will be assisting event security staff where there are any incidents of crime and disorder.Ch Supt Matt Kennerley, of the Cumbria force, is encouraging festival-goers not take valuable items, to remain vigilant and report anything suspicious to security or police. He said: "The event organisers have a range of security measures in place to assist with this including searches on entry and the use of drugs-scanning dogs."Surrender bins will also be in place at entry points. These bins are an opportunity to surrender any prohibited items."I urge anyone considering bringing drugs or weapons to the festival to consider their actions and the consequences this could have not only for yourself, but for others around you."Anyone found in possession of drugs or weapons will be dealt with appropriately."Finally, I'd like to welcome all those travelling into the county for the festival - please look out for one another and have a great time."
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TALK OF THE TOWN: No dire digs for student Emma Watson as she buys herself a mansion (complete with a Snoopy flag)

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The shirt was considered underwear at the time, serving as what the sociologist Elizabeth Shove has called a 'boundary object': a mediating layer between the private body and the public world. It protected the outer garments from the body's secretions, shielded sensitive skin from itchier wools, and conferred a sense of decency in a society uncomfortable with nakedness. This layer disappeared beneath a high-buttoned waistcoat, a tailored suit jacket and a tightly cinched cravat, leaving only the bright punctuation of shirt collar and cuffs to be seen. These dress practices were rigid in both code and structure. By the late 19th century the collar had become a site of exceptional severity — stiff, detachable and often punishing to the jawline — a starched band that operated, quite literally and figuratively, as a cultural chokehold. There's something telling in the story of John Cruetzi, an American man found dead in Baltimore one evening in 1888. 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To understand this shift, we have to go back to the early 2000s, when designers such as Raf Simons, Hedi Slimane and Thom Browne shrank men's silhouettes as a counter-reaction to the oversized silhouettes of the previous two decades. For a time men squeezed themselves into clothes that seemed to have been put through a hot wash and tumble-dry: shrunken jackets with narrow lapels, suction-fit shirts with diminutive collars and hip-hugging, low-rise trousers that clung to calves. Twenty years on, the clothes that once telegraphed youth now feel irredeemably middle-aged. To distinguish themselves from the mass market, cutting-edge designers have revived the voluminous styles that earlier designers rebelled against: broad shoulders, deep pleats and billowing fabrics that set sail in the wind. The overall aesthetic recalls Richard Gere's Armani swagger in the 1980 film American Gigolo. • The 'wonderbra' for men, and nine other new menswear trends This shift in proportions has come at a time when gender norms have loosened. Thus, it's no wonder that the flamboyant, expressive styles of the 1970s and 1980s — originally provocations against the bourgeois — have become relevant again. Brands like Bode and Kartik Research tap into the period's bohemian spirit through patchwork and embroidery, while Saint Laurent and Husbands Paris channel the glamour of the era's padded tailoring. As old anxieties around flamboyance recede, a new kind of straight male exhibitionism has emerged: Jeremy Allen White in a mesh tank top; Aimé Leon Dore normalising lace shirts. Shorts are routinely cut with thigh-baring 5in inseams; silky shirts are barely buttoned. If there's any cover at all, it's often in the form of chunky, glamorous eyewear from Jacques Marie Mage, which has muscled out the minimalist, geek-chic frames once associated with intellectualism. While this new style is openly suggestive, it's not always aimed at women. Just as many women dress for the appreciation of other women, straight men now often dress for a discerning male gaze, such as fashion-savvy friends and Instagram followers fluent in the same visual language. The look is sleazy, yes, but sleazy for the boys. A touch of good sense is required when venturing into unbuttoned territory. If you're wearing a standard office shirt with chinos and dress shoes, keep the buttons fastened (no one wants a call from HR). But when away from fluorescent lights and cubicle walls, unfastening a few shirt buttons brings summer comfort and telegraphs ease. A deep, open placket works best with casual shirts, such as chambray work shirts or denim western button-ups. When paired with bootcut jeans and a denim trucker — or, better still, with casual tailoring in linen or a wool-silk-linen blend — the look has a certain roguish charm. For some style inspiration, check out the Instagram accounts for Mark Maggiori (@markmaggiori), Ben Cobb (@bengcobb), Kamau Hosten (@kamauhosten) and Peter Zottolo (@urbancomposition). Or revisit the tousled masculinity of a 1970s Robert Redford. A bit of facial hair — maybe even some chest hair — helps sell the look. For those unsettled by the sight of so many bare sternums, it's worth remembering that every stage of male undressing has been met with discomfort. The T-shirt was once considered improper; tielessness seemed too casual for serious men; even the visible shirt itself was, in Victorian times, akin to showing your underwear. Today's bare chests may raise eyebrows, but they belong to a long lineage of men loosening up. Ultimately there's nothing wrong with any style move, as long as you know what you're expressing.

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