Famed for bringing the best musical acts to the beautiful Lake District and selling out in record-breaking time year upon year, Kendal Calling adds another accolade to its name as popular events and ticketing agent, Skiddle, crowns Kendal Calling as the ‘UK’s Best Small Festival’ as the festival announces the addition of Happy Mondays to the lineup as surprise special guest in partnership with Amazon Music.  

This summer, Amazon Music is partnering with three festivals – bluedot, Kendal Calling and Lost Village – to add one extra surprise act to the festival. At Kendal Calling the additional artist will be Happy Mondays, one of Manchester’s most iconic bands. 

As part of its summer programme – Amazon Music Summer Stages – the full catalogue music streaming service is offering twenty-five festival enthusiasts the chance of winning 2x VIP weekend tickets to Kendal Calling. 

To enter the free prize draw, to win one of twenty-five pairs of weekend VIP tickets to Kendal Calling visit www.amazon.co.uk/kendalcalling and follow the instructions. 

This year, the treasured boutique festival boasts huge performances from headliners Franz Ferdinand, Manic Street Preachers, Stereophonics, Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls, Tinie Tempah and Beach Boys legend Brian Wilson, as well as highly-anticipated sets from the likes of Editors, Loyle Carner and Frightened Rabbit to name a few.  

Kendal Calling caters to all with their fan-favourite comedy Soapbox stage, imaginative family areas, immersive and captivating arts lineup at Lost Eden, the tantalising Real Ale Festival and the Garden of Eden detox sanctuary, not to mention bespoke market and food stalls that will appear alongside the huge musical lineup across the weekend.  

Set in the wondrous Lake District, which has recently joined the likes of the Grand Canyon and Machu Picchu by being awarded Unesco World Heritage status, Kendal Calling provides the perfect backdrop to unwind as Skiddle’s survey reveals that nearly three quarters of responses saying that smaller festivals are more enjoyable because they are less stressful than their larger counterparts.  

Festival Director, Andy Smith says: 
“There’s a certain inimitable charm, intimacy and atmosphere at small festivals that make for very special weekends. It’s so lovely to hear that Skiddle users have appreciated the hard work that goes into planning Kendal Calling and have voted it the best small fest in the UK - it takes two to tango though, and from the bottom of our hearts we want to say thank you to the audience that make it so outstanding and such a joy to be involved with. We’re now camped on site at Lowther Deer Park and it’s pedal to the metal as we prepare the fields for Kendal Calling 2017; we’re all very excited and can’t wait to welcome you all at the gates in just under 3 weeks time!” 

Ben Sebborn, Co-Founder and Director of Skiddle, commented:  

“Over the past ten years the number of festivals in the UK has risen dramatically, catering to a huge variety of tastes. As choice increases, it is natural that people are exploring the options on offer and are leaning towards more boutique options.” 

Set in the picturesque Lowther Deer Park, one of the UK’s most beautiful festival sites, Kendal Calling will return to the Lake District for an amazing weekend of music, art, comedy, food and drink this July. Despite it being the 12th consecutive sell out for the award winning festival, the capacity will once again stay the same to retain Kendal Calling’s unique atmosphere.  

Those lucky enough to have a ticket for this year can find the day splits for this year’s festival here and weekend ticket holders can also pick up a Thursday ticket here. Those wishing to secure their place at 2018’s edition of the festival can sign up for the installment plan and pay just £11.67 per month here.  

NOTES TO EDITORS 
For more information and final accreditation enquiries please contact: 
National Media: Jon Moore - jon@thezeitgeistagency.com 
Regional Media: Gordon Duncan - gordon@thezeitgeistagency.com 

Amazon Music Unlimited
Amazon Music Unlimited is an on-demand music service that redefines music streaming by putting a catalogue of over 40 million songs and thousands of hand-curated playlists and personalised stations not just at the tips of your fingers, but also on the tip of your tongue using Alexa voice control on Echo devices. Amazon Music Unlimited makes discovering new music or listening to favourites easier and more fun than ever with the Amazon Music app as well as with innovative new Alexa voice controls for Echo – simply ask Alexa to ‘Play the Kendal Calling Festival 2017 Playlist’ and ‘play Happy Mondays’ or ‘play Sterophonics’ to hear songs from the full catalogues of these and many more artists. Amazon Music Unlimited is available in the UK at the breakthrough price of £7.99/month or £79/year for Prime members, and £9.99/month for non-Prime customers. An exclusive "for Echo" subscription plan is available for only £3.99/month for a single Amazon Echo device with full access to Amazon Music Unlimited.