We spent last weekend glamping near Keswick in the Lake District. On our way home to Manchester, we stopped in Kendal so we could spend an afternoon at the Lakes Alive Festival. We were very glad we stopped because it finished off our weekend with a flourish and we were only sad we didn’t get there earlier!
Lakes Alive is a free festival of contemporary arts and making. Three days of unique art in the unique landscape of Kendal.
We went primarily to go and see our favourite storyteller, Ian Douglas. We’ve followed him to three festivals this year and each time he has been a delight to listen to. Ian had pitched his storytelling canopy in Abbot Hall Park, which was filled with stalls, street food trucks and a huge marquee with a lively series of events booked in it.
During the afternoon we watched Cloud, a pair of contemporary dancers drifting through space like weightless clouds which was quite beautiful to watch. People walking by almost always stopped and were captivated by the dreamy dance.
The Fellowship Chorus and the Virtual Reality Choir were in residence, belting out a series of singalong classics you couldn’t help but join in with.
Marching through Abbots Hall Park and beyond were Walking Watling Street – a celebration to remember the 50,000 women who marched from Carlisle to London in 1913 to fight to win the vote for women. There was a great crowd of women dressed as Suffragettes and members of the public were all invited to join the march, and march they did. It was a wonderful sight!
Throughout the Lakes Alive Festival there were a number of weird and wonderful things just popping up. Once of them was Peddlers Pack – four fantastical cycle-powered contraptions. Peddlers Pack was a colourful and a little bit crazy group of people peddling their imaginary wares.
I’m not sure what my son thought of the Peddlers Pack, but he stood back for quite some time taking it all in. If there’s one thing an arts festival does for children, it gives them permission to explore the outer reaches of their own experiences and brings life and colour to their own imaginations.
There were some things I was sad to miss (but better luck next year). It’s amazing that this is a free arts festival; there are so many weird, wonderful and downright creative things happening. I’d not heard about it until a week or so before and I was very glad we stopped by for the afternoon. Lakes Alive is something I’ll be looking out for again next year. Hopefully we’ll be able to spend more time exploring what’s on offer.
For more information about the Lakes Alive Festival, visit their website.
My husband would like me to give a special mention to the man barbecuing sausages on a converted steam train.