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Feedback on 2017 - good, bad, shite weather !


ramragon
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The toilets were a disgrace even for a festival. They were always full of ****, no toilet paper and nothing to clean hands with.

The real ale tent sounded like a great idea. The beer was awful thought. 22 shades of golden coloured water. Bar staff were lost with the options. I understand the low ABV,  but there is far better our there even at low alcohol content. The KT Perry was much stronger than the beer at 6.2%. 

There was too much bass pumping over from the glow tent. It interfered too much with the main stage at times. 

The food was pretty good. A bit lacking in overall choice and a couple of poor places. We had a burger and chips from the place just inside the door from the campsite entry to the arena. It didn't do much for me at all

 

 

Don't book Tinie Tempah again.

 

Had a blast otherwise.. 

 

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They need to put tracks down all over when the weather is like that! Especially all the way from family camping to the arena and to the exit. When we were on tracks with our cycle trailer it was fine. As soon as we hit mud it was like a challenge on an endurance gameshow.

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The kraken bar was a big hit for me. Enjoyed the c/tails and good banter.

I may have just been lucky with the toilet situation but only saw a few really bad ones. I really think they should have some toilets just for the kids ( at camp bestival years ago) they had the mini compost ones. Did feel sorry for the kids having to use portaloos.

First time in Emperors and found it great for the distance to the car and the arena. Only improvement in there would be more food stall options.

 Had a blast and even the mud didn't spoil my enjoyment of the weekend. See you next year.... hopefully in Emperors 

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I think I was lucky with the toilets, although some were in a state and that was more to do with them being vandalised. In Deer Lodge they were all grand. I think if people actually flushed before and after as instructed they'd be fine.

I think we were fairly lucky with the weather and it was just the constant rain beforehand that set that grim mud. Sticky is better than huge puddles. Could have done with more chippings on the hills. Saw a fair few sober folk go arse over tit.

Seemed to be a lot of young uns this year pissed and/or off their nuts. I didn't see anyone get searched upon entry so it was probably easy to sneak stuff in.

Loved the woodland area and as mentioned above the tiki lounge was nice.

I fear that Kendal will become a victim of its own success and if it has more headliners like Tiny Tempo it'll attract a younger crowd and it might force away those families. I was chuffed that Frank Turner got an extra 15 mins on his slot.

Overall great mix of bands. I made my list of must sees but spent plenty of time discovering new bands I've not heard of.

Real Ale tent was good as always. Reasonable prices, on par what i would pay in town.

Tim Peaks crammed as always. We left halfway through the corals acoustic set and people literally stormed the doors knocking my girlfriend over. Cocks! Not that they would see anything anyway.

Getting out was ok this year. Left at 7.30 and home before Jezza Kyle.

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Another thumbs up for the toilets from me as well. Can't be easy to keep them clean, and while there was the odd dodgy cubicle, the vast majority were really well maintained.

KC has a lot going for it. It's a great setting for a festival and they'd do well to keep it the same size as it's big enough for variety but still pretty intimate. 

We took the bairn and he had a blast despite the mud, the kids field kept him busy and Chai Wallahs was good to get some rest and a sit down with him.

Thought the prices were reasonable, the real ale tents especially. Loved the Coast to Coast they had on draft at the main bars, and Amstel is a far better house lager when compared to Tuborg which they have at Glastonbury. Good choice of food as well.

Personally speaking, I thought the lineup was gash for the most part, though that's down to my personal preferences. My idea of festival hell involves Frank Turner, Editors, Jake Bugg, Reverend and the Makers and Stereophonics and if I'd not bought the tickets before the announcement I may have looked elsewhere. I think I've been unlucky as there's plenty headliners in previous years I'd loved to have seen. Still enjoyed plenty of sets though. Loyle Carner was outstanding, was great to see the Pet Sounds show one last time and loved the energy at Lethal Bizzle. 

It seems to be better organised than YNot if reports are to be believed.

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57 minutes ago, dannyfletcher said:

I fear that Kendal will become a victim of its own success and if it has more headliners like Tiny Tempo it'll attract a younger crowd and it might force away those families. I was chuffed that Frank Turner got an extra 15 mins on his slot

To be fair, there's always been an element of acts booked to attract the kids. Dizzee, Calvin Harris, Chase and Status, Rudimental from the top of my head have all played.

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30 minutes ago, Badlands said:

To be fair, there's always been an element of acts booked to attract the kids. Dizzee, Calvin Harris, Chase and Status, Rudimental from the top of my head have all played.

True, and i guess those younger folk will become the families of the future, where as old buggers like me will stop going :)

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I like how they'd opened up the garden of Eden area and pushed back the cinema tent a bit, certainly scope for extending a bit more over that way but you would need something to drag the punters over.   

Caught up with @bottonrob over the weekend and I agree with what he was saying, it looked a decent spot for an open aired 2nd stage which Kendal needs to draw crowds from the main stage if it's going to push another 5000 or so on it's capacity. Maybes the amazon sponsoring of the Mondays was to test the water and I could imagine a twitch stage popping up next year. For a capacity push the dance tent and calling out tent don't seem big enough to cope with an extra crowd. An open 2nd stage with acts like the Mondays headlining would split the crowd nicely 

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Did they increase the capacity this year, certainly felt like it, if they going to do that they need another sub stage like we were discussing over a few beers after the mustards. There was a lot of drugs (the nasty horse shit stuff) this year and I've heard of a lot of tents been trashed etc. If they spend a lot on glow tent and although I've heard of most of them they hey apparently did then you have to up the policing accordingly. Is that the kind of festival the organisers want? If they are reading we met up with a group of their friends in Wallah's yesterday to the brilliant Lowds (I think) if you get a request to hold a wedding in the future it is my fault!

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It was noticeably busier.....all in all though I've no real complaints....the weather was always going to make it a challenge with mud but the site held up pretty well.

Probably the only issue for me (ok one complaint then) was the lack of toilets within the arena generally....queues we massive on Thursday in particular.

I really enjoyed the Stereophonics, didn't see the Manics as I went to see Mexrissy in the Woodlands.....Tinnie Tempah took the piss being so late.

 

Yeah.....a pretty good weekend :)

 

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Main stage was as busy for the stereophonics as it was for snoop the other year and that was with a crammed dance tent offering example and faithless dj sets at a similar time. Definitely the biggest crowds I've seen there and something to look at if they're increasing it next year

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They applied for a licence a couple of years ago to increase capacity to around 35,000 but they usually keep the capacity at around 25,000, with the crowds around the site at times and the increased camping areas I wouldn't be surprised if it had been pushed up from last year

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Positives - absolutely loved the jagerhaus, every time we dropped in there it was buzzing and we caught some good little known acts there! Stereophonics did a great set, loved circa waves and feeder did not disappoint, crowd etiquette on the main stage was really good when we were there, food variety was pretty good, stumbled across some great stuff in woodlands and Eden garden, really enjoyed chilling just people watching at the Argentinian wine bar, the pizzas at Tim Peaks were very tasty and I thought well priced, soap box had some excellent acts. 

 

Negatives - toilet admin was rubbish. Security going through the gates was totally hit and miss which is kind of worrying in this climate, in fact the extent of my search each time was "do you have any glass", Glow tent and calling out were no where near big enough for the size of crowd they were attracting at times - was actually pretty dangerous during example, they could have really done with intercepting people and sending them to overflow camping to save hundreds of people trudging to the end of family camping only to be sent all the way back due to no room, (I didn't come with kids so this is just an observation) family camping should have been a lot nearer a car park. Probably could have done more about the ground prep given the weather forecast had given a reasonable indication of rain in the lead up. Biggest negative for me was the sound quality on the main stage - it was terrible and being far out done by bass from the glow tent....that and the fact that I was looking forward to manics before hand so much and then personal opinion they were a complete let down! 

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 Seating near photo ops; "can you take a picture of us all?". Next year's T-shirt will say "No, I will not take a fucking picture" on the front and "yes, he really fucking did say that" on the back, because when i say it for the twelftietht time it sounds like "yes, no problem". 

All night shout and singalong  party on Deer lodge; take that shit where it's expected.  people pay for comfort, and sleep is a basic. 

Some of the food was delicious, some was cheap shite without the cheap. I noticed one or two price hikes as well. 

Families sat in the same spot all day leaving massive amounts of rubbish behind. Please break the cycle; teach your children not to be c**ts.

The good - pretty much everything else.

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1 hour ago, Son_N said:

Glow tent and calling out were no where near big enough for the size of crowd they were attracting at times - was actually pretty dangerous during example, 

The really annoying thing is that the tents weren't overly busy away from the entrance it just needs far better crowd control and stewarding to try and get people to move in from the entrance as they go in.  We were on the left hand side past the bar during Sister Bliss and Example and there was tons of room to dance, yet it took me over 40 minutes to get back in after nipping out for some air.

Really needs a 2nd entrance opening up on the other side of the tent at busier times.

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Didn't get to be at the festival for as much as  we planned too unfortunately. Was on site for franz on Thursday only, thought the sound was poor stage left and they were ok and I did laugh when everyone started to leave after take me out .

friday in after 5 ground conditions weren't great but after the rain what can you expect was good to see the huge puddles of previous years weren't forming my eldest wanted to see circa waves she enjoyed them but sound again for Jake bug wasn't great stage left , stereophonics were good but would of liked a couple of more tracks off word gets around !!!!camped Friday night conditions in emperor were fine left site early.

saturday again not in until late afternoon sorry I missed colonel he's a must see ! Feeder were ok but as for Brian Wilson i just didn't really get it ! And neither did the crowd it's ok booking seminal / iconic or whatever it was supposed to be but there just isn't the hits in the Pet sounds album when they actually played what folk knew at the end it was a complete change of mood crowd got going ! Manics were good . Had wander round jäger house and the woodlands area late at night 2 great places and the woodlands area is very visual and interesting place so hats off to who ever is behind that area . Camped and left early Sunday morning.

ive seen over the years how good and bad it can be and if I'm totally honest from what I saw it was one of the better run events.

didnt make it in Sunday 

all in all had a great weekend nice catch up with folk sorry I didn't make the meet maybe next year .

see you hopefully in 2018

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by LOCHLAND5
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Sadly I think this may have been the last Kendal Calling for us.. I think the festival has lost it's way to a degree and is becoming a festival for p^ssed up kids.

Yes we had a good time, we always do, but we noticed a lot more negatives this year and I don't want my memories of this festival to be lasting bad ones.

Negative wise, well it just felt like they had cut corners this year, simple things like the lack of decoration for a start. It's purely cosmetic but there didn't seem to be as many flag poles about, as much decoration around fences and lighting. The rubbish seemed to be everywhere this year, last few festivals I always spotted an army of cleaners walking the fields doing the bins and picking up rubbish, this year it just seemed to be left to pile up by the bins. 

The emperors field toilets never seemed to be emptied and as daft as it sounds something as simple as not having a hand sanitiser station outside this year seemed poor.. eventually someone dumped a tub on the floor to be used. 

There seemed to be a massive issue with drunk kids again, it's always going to happen, and yes i'm getting older... but they were every where this year. Every time I looked I could see one of them swigging from a 2 litre soft drink bottle filled with spirits and it was pretty much every group of kids (i need smuggling tips from them)

The glow tent was appalling and the security was completely overwhelmed... We got in early to see faithless... we got out just. The tent was well over capacity, the fact they had one security guy at the exit points begging people not to push past him was a joke. There was then a row of four at another exit trying to stop link arms and keep people back. They then rushed them and pushed in causing a stamped, why not have a railing queue system like other years and with a one in one out system and an appropriate amount of staff for bigger acts! Faithless and example on right after a headline mainstage was always going to attract a big crowd, organisers were badly prepared.  

And as a final shot it just felt poorly organised this year, things didn't seem to run on time, it felt like things were done on the cheap and just didn't make us smile like previous years. 

We really hope Kendal can address some of the issues but like others have said I think it's now a victim of it's own success. 

 

 

Edited by Scargilla
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6 hours ago, bottonrob said:

 If they spend a lot on glow tent and although I've heard of most of them they hey apparently did then you have to up the policing accordingly. Is that the kind of festival the organisers want? 

Sorry, this isn't a go at you personally because I can see you obviously care about the festival,  but I don't understand  why you think better dance acts should have to mean more policing?

All the problems at the Glow Tent entrance only happened once all the idiots who had been drinking at the Main Stage all day tried to get in at once after the rest of the music had finished and because unfortunately alcohol tends to turn a lot of people into bell-ends, luckily most of them must have gone again after an hour or so because it was a lot easier to get re-entry later on.

Dance music, in my experience, tends to attract a far friendlier crowd than some of the other music you'd find at a festival, I spent loads of time at Glow/House Party/the new WKD DJ place this weekend, chatted and had a laugh with loads of  people I met, many who I swapped names and numbers with to meet again on other nights and next year and many who i've already chatted to on Facebook today and will be meeting again for a club night somewhere in the 'real world'.  

Honestly didn't see a hint of aggression from anyone inside Glow at all, people in that kind of environment tend to look out and share with each other rather than get aggressive, there's a reason it's called being loved up you know.

 

 

Edited by cincoveces05
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Getting in at around 3pm on Thursday took forever. We weren't searched but they were stopping other cars so that probably slowed things down a bit. A marshal near Deer Lodge apologised for a very long (40min) wait inside the site which was, allegedly, due to one person throwing a major hissy fit about having to pay to park somewhere. 

Toilets generally not too bad but I think those portaloos would have been dreadful in hot weather. A major lack of hand sanitizer but most people seemed to have their own. Could they use troughs with soap and water for hand washing I wonder? No amount of sanitizer was going to shift the crap from under my nails. Yuk.

The ground held up reasonably well for the most part given the weather. In glad we went to Kendal and not Y Not?!

The sound quality at the Main Stage didn't seem great to us. Sound leakage seemed to be an issue too from the Main Stage, Glow Tent, Calling Out, WKD area.

This sounds like a long list of gripes but it's not meant to be. We had a great time at our first Kendal Calling and will be up for a repeat.

 

 

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1 hour ago, cincoveces05 said:

Sorry, this isn't a go at you personally because I can see you obviously care about the festival,  but I don't understand  why you think better dance acts should have to mean more policing?

All the problems at the Glow Tent entrance only happened once all the idiots who had been drinking at the Main Stage all day tried to get in at once after the rest of the music had finished and because unfortunately alcohol tends to turn a lot of people into bell-ends, luckily most of them must have gone again after an hour or so because it was a lot easier to get re-entry later on.

Dance music, in my experience, tends to attract a far friendlier crowd than some of the other music you'd find at a festival, I spent loads of time at Glow/House Party/the new WKD DJ place this weekend, chatted and had a laugh with loads of  people I met, many who I swapped names and numbers with to meet again on other nights and next year and many who i've already chatted to on Facebook today and will be meeting again for a club night somewhere in the 'real world'.  

Honestly didn't see a hint of aggression from anyone inside Glow at all, people in that kind of environment tend to look out and share with each other rather than get aggressive, there's a reason it's called being loved up you know.

 

 

Apologies if I've not been clear. They have invested greatly in the quality of the acts aimed at a younger audience over the last few years and v noticeably this year. More youths does require more policing unfortunately (look at the rising number of drug related incidents/hospitalisations etc) to be honest I really enjoy dance and if it wasn't for KC being a family weekend for us and my body blatantly not being upto it I would've been all over a few of the glow acts this year. It's not about the music as such but the generation it is aimed at and the particular issues that arise as such.

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