Kendal Calling is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2026, and has announced over 100 artists for the bill, including Biffy Clyro, Wolf Alice, and Two Door Cinema Club.
Next year’s instalment of the festival will mark 20 years since the live event launched in 2006, and will return to the Lake District’s Lowther Deer Park from Thursday July 30 to Sunday August 2.
Already, the festival is close to being sold-out with 95 per cent of tickets sold before announcing any names on the line-up, and today (Tuesday December 16), organisers have confirmed over 120 artists set to take to the stages.
Leading the top of the bill are Scottish rock giants Biffy Clyro, who will be headlining the festival and celebrating the release of their critically acclaimed new album ‘Futique’. The slot also comes following them marking new heights in their career by scheduling a 40,000-capacity headline gig in London, and as the band announced yesterday that bassist James Johnston will be sitting out of upcoming shows to focus on his wellbeing.
Joining them at the top of the bill are Irish indie pop icons Two Door Cinema Club, who will be taking to the stage as headliners to perform their debut album ‘Tourist History’ in full, alongside some fan favourites and cult classics picked from their subsequent four LPs.
Wolf Alice are also continuing their run at festival headliner status, having won the Mercury Music Prize in 2018 with their second album ‘Visions Of A Life’, and having now won over even more fans with their huge album ‘The Clearing’. The slot at Kendal Calling will follow a massive gig at Glastonbury this summer, as well as two mammoth slots at The O2.
The opening night of the Lake District festival will be closed out by indie legends The Kooks, who are underway with celebrating their debut album ‘Inside In/Inside Out’.
Other new names added to the bill include fellow indie legends The Cribs, The Libertines, The Vaccines, Jamie Webster, The Lathums, Doves, and The Snuts, as well as pop giants like Scissor Sisters, Gabrielle, Groove Armada and Vanessa Carlton.
Returning favourites include Sh*t Indie Disco, Dick & Dom, The Lancashire Hotpots, and Tim Burgess, and emerging talent who have nabbed a slot on the line-up include alt-rock quartet Keo, Irish four-piece Florence Road, West Yorkshire’s Ellur, Falkirk folk-punks Brógeal, rising Black Country duo GANS, and Merseyside singer-songwriter Ruby Duff.
As well as hosting live music for the 40,000 visitors, Kendal Calling will also be continuing to host other events including comedy, art installations, the ‘Lost Eden’ wonderland, kids’ events, food and drink options and more.
Visit here for tickets and find the full line-up in the poster below.
“I’m so excited to reveal next year’s line-up! Our brilliant team has secured a line-up worthy of the jaw dropping faith the Kendal Calling family put in us each year,” said Ben Robinson, co-founder Kendal Calling.
“Selling 98 per cent of the tickets before announcing a single artist is the biggest compliment we could ever receive, so here’s an early Christmas present to say thank you! It’s been a long time coming booking Biffy Clyro, we’ve been courting them like blushing school kids for a decade, it will be a true highlight,” he added.
“As will Wolf Alice as they bring a big smile to the Cumbrian hills. Like any classic movie it’s not all about the leading roles, as ever we’re welcoming a cast of hundreds of artists to our stages and I can’t wait for you all to dig into this incredible group of musicians.”
Headliners for this summer’s edition of Kendal Calling were Courteeners, Fatboy Slim, The Prodigy and Kaiser Chiefs. Other acts on the bill included The Last Dinner Party, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Scouting for Girls, Skindred, The Lottery Winners, Maxïmo Park, Corinne Bailey Rae, The K’s, Reverend & The Makers, The Pigeon Detectives, Daniel Bedingfield, Nieve Ella and more.
