Kendal Calling has announced the line-up for its 2023 festival, featuring massive headline performances from the likes of Blossoms, Royal Blood, Kasabian and Nile Rodgers & Chic.
The beautiful festival takes place in the heart of the Lake District each July, at Lowther Deer Park.
More than 100 incredible acts have been announced today ahead of tickets going on sale later this week.
This year, the festival will welcome huge artists including Kaiser Chiefs, The Lathums, Example, Frank Turner, Circa Waves and Happy Mondays, who will open the show on Saturday.
Kendal Calling’s 2023 bill features some of the biggest names in pop history, like Rick Astley, Melanie C, and Natalia Imbruglia, plus dance music heavyweights like Annie Mac, Mike Skinner and DJ Yoda as part of Glow by Kendal Calling.
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The festival is famed for providing one of the UK’s biggest line-ups in arguably the most beautiful setting, with something geared towards festival-goers of all ages.
Kendal Calling. Credit: Izzy ChallonerKendal Calling. Credit: Tom Martin
This year’s Kendal Calling will take place between 27 and 30 July 2023, with pre-sale tickets going live on Friday 27 January – you can sign up for pre-sale here.
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Kasabian will headline the beloved music event this summer, with frontman Serge Pizzorno performing their big hits like Fire, Club Foot and You’re in Love with a Psycho.
Royal Blood will make their Kendal Calling debut – the Mercury Prize-nominated duo are widely considered one of the best live acts it the world and have previously supported Foo Fighters, Arctic Monkeys and Iggy Pop.
Local lads Blossoms, originally from Stockport, will be pulling the crowds to the main stage with their brilliant indie back catalogue, including songs Charlemagne and Your Girlfriend.
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Nile Rodgers & CHIC will return to the Kendal Calling stage this summer too. Rodgers is a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee and a multiple Grammy Award winning songwriter, composer, producer, arranger, and guitarist – quite a CV.
Kendal Calling. Credit: Tom Martin
The group are behind Le Freak, the biggest selling single in the history of Atlantic Records, as well as working with Madonna, Sister Sledge, Dianna Ross and David Bowie on their biggest songs.
Nile Rodgers said: “The last time we played Kendall Calling was epic and one of my favourite shows ever. We are excited to be back this year for more good times!”
Representing the noughties indie scene will be Kaiser Chiefs, Wigan’s own The Lathums, and Circa Waves.
Pop star Example, famed for his energetic stage presence, is on this year’s line-up, as is the legendary Rick Astley, along with folk-punk favourite Frank Turner.
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Beyond the live music scene, one of the biggest podcasts in the UK JaackMaate’s Happy Hour Live will have their first-ever festival booking at Kendal Calling.
You can see the full Kendal Calling 2023 line-up poster below
Kendal Calling’s luxury boutique camping village The Deer Lodge will be back, with free parking, clean enviro loos, hot showers, phone charging and its own food and drink stall.
There’s also The Frontier, with Live-In Vehicle options.
Festival Co-Founders Andy Smith and Ben Robinson said: “After an absolutely stunning festival last year, we cannot wait to get back in those fields!
“With Kasabian, Royal Blood, Blossoms, Nile Rodgers & CHIC, Kaiser Chiefs, Rick Astley, Annie Mac – the line-up is looking absolutely stacked. All we need now is a bit of sun and we’ve got the perfect weekend!”
Kendal Calling 2023 pre-sale will start from 10am on Friday 27 January, with general sale from 10am on Saturday 28 January.
After All 2026 – the affordable grassroots music festival happening in Northern Quarter
Danny Jones
Grassroots music event After All Festival is returning to Manchester this weekend, with rising local artists and affordable tickets.
Now well over half a decade since it was founded, All All Fest takes place in the heart of the Northern Quarter, and this year they’re proving that their slow and steady approach to backing the best new up-and-coming bands at core intimate venues is more important than ever.
With plenty of previous acts having impressed in recent years, we’re looking forward to seeing how 2026 stacks up in comparison to its predecessors.
Increasingly prolific native group Dirty Laces are set to headline the whole thing, Manilla Times are locked in, and Bolton’s very own James Holt also stands out on the lineup, just to highlight a few.
As the festival continues to grow in size and popularity, they have obviously had to scale things up even further this year.
That being said, beloved live music spot and Manc institution, Band on the Wall, is among the chosen arts spaces for this latest iteration.
BoW will be offering up their 500-capacity main room to the organisers for the very first time, serving as the de facto main stage of After All Fest 2026.
Joining them will be the Rose and Monkey next door, as well as cult favourite pub, Gullivers on Oldham Street, who have a long history of supporting local musicians and the arts in general.
And would you look at that, now you’ve got all the stage splits and set times, too.
Labelled by Dead Records’ Rob Fiddaman as “one of the UK’s most exciting new music festivals”, homegrown DJing legend Dave Sweetmore has also described it as “unique in so many ways”, hailing it as a “brilliant event with a great atmosphere to discover new music.”
Having been ourselves on multiple occasions since its inception in 2019 – both as Audio North off-duty and as punters before then – we can’t recommend it highly enough.
The latest edition takes place at 12 noon onwards this Saturday until 2am on Sunday, 17 May, and while the cheapest early bird tickets (£16.50) are long gone, general admission tickets are still available, with prices starting from just £20. Grab yours HERE before they sell out.
It’s not the only live music event worth being a part of this month…
Global girl group Katseye add Manchester to huge new world tour
Daisy Jackson
Katseye have announced a major arena world tour for this year – and the global girl group are coming to Manchester for the first time.
The pop superstars will be performing at the Co-op Live as part of their WILDWORLD TOUR, which is taking them right across the UK, Europe and North America.
Katseye formed through The Debut: Dream Academy, which narrowed 120,000 applicants down to just six talented singers and dancers – though the group will be touring as a five-piece this time (Manon Bannerman has taken a hiatus from the band).
The Los Angeles-based global girl group, formed by HYBE and Geffen Records, merges K-pop dance training with Western pop sounds, with members hailing from across the U.S., Europe, Asia, and beyond.
The group is currently made up of Daniela Avanzini, Lara Raj, Megan Skiendiel, Sophia Laforteza, and Yoonchae Jeung.
Katseye have not yet released a full studio album but have achieved major commercial success with songs like Gabriella, Pinky Up, Gnarly, and Internet Girl.
The group have already performed a major slot at Coachella, as well as taking the stage at the GRAMMY Awards this year where they were also nominated for two awards (including Best New Artist).
Katseye will be releasing their third EP, WILD, this summer ahead of their world tour, which reaches Manchester in September.
Tickets will first be on sale via a Weverse Artist Presale from 11am on Wednesday 20 May, followed by the Katseye.World presale from 3pm.
Fans can also register for presale access by pre-ordering Katseye’s new EP WILD or by signing up – no purchase necessary.
General sale will begin at 3pm on Thursday 21 May HERE.
Katseye WILDWORLD Tour – UK and European dates
1 September – Dublin, Ireland – 3Arena
3 September – London, UK – The O2
6 September – Manchester, UK – Co-Op Live
9 September – Paris, France – Accor Arena
11 September – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Ziggo Dome
Daisy Jackson -
25th January 2023 
