Following another hugely successful year for Kendal Calling, tickets for the 20th anniversary of the much-loved Northern festival have gone on sale and are already selling out rapidly.
2024 marked the 19th consecutive sold-out year for the festival, and you can bet your house on Kendal Calling 2025 tickets disappearing before you know it as well.
With more than 40,000 people making their way into Lowther Deer Park in the Lake District every 24 hours over the course of the four-day music and arts festivals, it’s one of the biggest and best festivals in the region.
We certainly enjoyed ourselves the last two years, put it that way.
To better put it into context for you, when broken down to the numbers the festival sees the town suddenly inflate to the third biggest town in the whole of Cumbria thanks to the hordes of new punters, families and returning fans that travel to the Lakes simply for the festival.
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Dubbed by many as a ‘mini Glastonbury of the North’, the organisers have already built a remarkable reputation for themselves, attracting huge names over the years.
From Bastille, Elbow and Snoop Dogg; Catfish and the Bottlemen, Blondie, Chase and Status; Public Enemy, Calvin Harris, Tom Jones and countless others, Kendal Calling boasts some serious pedigree and is only set to go bigger and better from its 20th birthday – a huge milestone for any festival.
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Viral moments from this year’s legendary lineup included Declan McKenna’s iconic set on Thursday’s opening night, Manchester’s very own Corella jumping into the main stage crowd and, of course, Gary Neville delighting crowds with a DJ set some amusing on-stage antics for us Mancs.
It’s moments like these that explain exactly why tickets sell out every year and why they’re already being snapped up not even a week after the 2024 edition wrapped up.
It also needs reminding that the festival is about much more than just the music.
Following this year’s festival, Kendal Calling’s co-founder Andy Smith said: “From Paolo Nutini to Gary Neville, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds to Dick and Dom, packed out fields for Sugababes and The Reytons to the legendary Barrioke, woodlands adventures and swashbuckling parades… even a special visit from the Fury family backstage.
“The history books continue to be written, and 19 years in this could, quite possibly, have been our best one yet! As festival-goers set off for another year and we return the fields to the wildlife who call it home, we want to extend an enormous and heartfelt thank you to each and every one of you who makes Kendal Calling the magical place that it is!
“The revelry, the community and the unutterable feeling of joy span every corner of our site and that is all down to you!” They’ve made sure to keep repaying that gratitude too by freezing ticket prices and even, with payment plans also available from as little as £15 per month.
So, with tickets for 2025 and their 20th-anniversary festival already on sale, we can only urge you to give it a go. Taking place from 31 July-3 August, adult early bird passes with camping for the full weekend start from £184.95 including fees.
You can find the full list of options HERE. We hope to see you in the fields next year and you can read our full review of Kendal Calling 2024 down below.
Featured Images — The Manc Group/Abbie Jennings (supplied)
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Taemin at AO Arena: Take the K-pop world’s ‘Advice’ – you need to watch him live
Thomas Melia
This time last month, South Korean star, SHINee and SuperM boyband member, Taemin showed Manchester the real meaning of ‘The Rizzness’. It was our first K-pop gig and won’t be our last.
Normally, if you ask me what I’m getting up to on a Tuesday night, I’d respond with the usual: “Nothing.” Ask me this random but eye-opening night back in March 2025, and I’d say, “Watching the ‘Ephemeral Glaze’ tour”.
Opening with a song labelled ‘Déjà vu’, ironically, felt from the truth, as the minute the performer stepped onto the stage, the whole crowd was watching what felt like an all-new spectacle come to life – even for some of the already inducted K-pop fans inside the AO Arena.
Following up with ‘Guilty’, I’d be lying if I told you we didn’t love this performance. It wasn’t overshadowed by that unbelievable grand opening either – if anything, it was even better.
A majestic pose from Taemin at AO Arena in Manchester, performing to a lively crowd.Credit: Audio North
This was a setlist that just keeps on giving: after this, ‘Advice’ greets our ears and fans erupt in various screams and cries, to which Taemin, 31, certainly appreciated.
It’s high energy through and through, as the next song, ‘Idea’, felt like the missing piece of the jigsaw puzzle for those of us not so used to this kind of music, well and truly captivating the Manc crowd.
Closing what was merely his opening segment with this song was definitely a good ‘Idea’… (sorry).
Its title may draw from a comedic viral term used to describe someone with great flirting skills, a.k.a. ‘rizz’, but ‘The Rizzness’ is no laughing matter.
Fans caught on quickly, and as soon as the first note was pumped out into the arena, the atmosphere reached whole new heights and those familiar screams at an other-worldly pitch returned.
I never thought I’d see the day where AO Arena screamed, “You know I got the rizz, the rizzness”, but there’s a first time for everything, I guess.
Taemin and his dancers were electric at AO Arena.Credit: The Manc Group
Being from Korea, 31-year-old Taemin tried his best to communicate with the crowd throughout the night, taking breaks after back-to-back performances to gauge the audience’s reactions.
The South Korean superstar didn’t take long to warm up to the crowd and showed off his cheeky side, telling the arena, “Only 4 more songs” before finishing the sentence with “I lied”.
‘Criminal’ had me and the rest of Manchester weak in the knees; the choreography was flawless throughout, but this was a true highlight. Ending with ‘Say Less’, Taemin knew exactly what he was doing, putting a song that catchy right at the end, as this was all that replayed in my head on the train home.
Put it this way, we may still be relative newbies to the world of Korean pop music, but with another big name heading to Manchester, we’re definitely keen to find out more.
Hip-hop, soul and R’n’B legend Mary J Blige is coming to Manchester for a massive arena show
Danny Jones
Manchester is getting ready to welcome a global icon of hip-hop, soul, pop and R’n’B as Mary J Blige is set to put on a massive arena show.
With a music career spanning more than 30 years, Mary J Blige is an absolute legend of the American music scene, with nine GRAMMY Awards and nearly 40 nominations, along with a plethora of BET, Billboard, and AMA nods over the years.
Currently on ‘The For My Fans Tour’, jetting quite literally all over and recently adding on even more dates, not only has London been given some love, but so has Greater Manchester – and rightly so.
Announcing the special one-off show and Co-op Live debut this Wednesday, 16 April, Mary J Blige won’t have to wait too long to be part of the ‘Family Affair’.
The 54-year-old from New York will be coming to the state-of-the-art, one of the biggest indoor entertainment venues in all of Europe, in just a few months’ time.
On top of the already well-established AO Arena, this is the pedigree of truly worldwide artists that Co-op Live was built to further attract – and it looks to be working.
It’s been the best part of a decade since she was last in these parts, so she’s sure to get a huge reception.
While most audiences in the likes of North America have been treated to fellow R’n’B favourite Ne-Yo, those watching Ms Blige will be keeping things domestic as long-standing London collective and producers, Soul II Soul, will be joining her for the show.
‘Back to life, back to reality…’
So there you have it! Mary J Blige will be coming to Manchester on Friday, 4 July 2025, with her own pre-sale going live at 10am on Thursday, 24 April, but Co-op members can get there even earlier, with the venue’s early access available from the same time the day before.
As for general admission, you can get ready to grab your tickets HERE from 10am on Friday, 25 April.
Danny Jones -
8th August 2024 
