Scores of local dancers and musicians are looking forward to taking part in one of the north's best-loved music festivals next month.
Members of Eden Dance and BJamba will appear at Kendal Calling at the start of August. They will join an impressive lineup over the four day event, which includes headliners Paolo Nutini, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds and The Streets, as well as Keane, Sugababes and hundreds more acts.
Around 55 dancers and percussionists from Penrith are getting ready to wow the crowds in the festival’s grand finale: a super-sized parade brought to life in spectacular style by international Carnival specialists Global Grooves. The larger-than-life, colourful procession, featuring over 220 performers from all around Cumbria, takes place on the Sunday of the festival, which runs from 1-4 August at Lowther Deer Park.
Eden Dance, which provides expert tuition in many different styles, alongside yoga, Pilates and Zumba at Newbiggin village hall, is rehearsing with a number of its students, alongside members of the local community who have no previous dance experience. Teaming up with the Carlisle International Women's Group, its Festival troupe has a diverse range of cultural backgrounds, with ages spanning 11-75.
Whilst BJamba is Penrith's original samba band, which celebrated its 20th anniversary last year. The community group, which is open to all ages, has become an integral part of festivals and events in Cumbria and beyond. It rehearses on Tuesday evenings at Mostyn Hall on Friargate.
The celebratory pageant is inspired by this year’s festival theme, ‘the high seas’. In the spirit of all things swashbuckling, the parade will be made up of three main sections, and led by a nautical Carnival queen, majestically riding the waves in her horse-drawn cart.
Lavishly costumed dancers, giant walkabout puppets and scores of flag bearers will complete the procession, which is influenced by Carnival traditions around the world. Festival goers will be able to interact with puppets Sea Spirit, Cyclone the goat ghost from the Cumbrian coast and The Spirit of Courage, a seafaring Carnival queen, sporting a show-stopping headdress, based on a mariner’s astrolabe and trailing a 5m hand painted silk ship’s sail.
The mastermind behind what will be a fabulous oceanic spectacle is Greater Manchester-based Carnival creator Global Grooves, best known for its work on the Queen's Platinum Jubilee Pageant and Bluedot Festival.
Since 2003, Global Grooves has inspired people all over the globe to take part in Carnival-style events, working across the UK as well as in Gambia, Brazil, New Zealand, Singapore, and Trinidad & Tobago. In 2021, it launched the Northern Carnival Centre of Excellence within The Vale arts centre in Mossley, Greater Manchester.
Leon Patel, CEO, Global Grooves said: "Global Grooves specialises in bringing together diverse community groups to create professional level Carnival experiences.
"We know that BJamba and Eden Dance are going to bring bags of energy to help us deliver an unforgettable high seas finale for Kendal Calling.
"And it goes without saying that creating Carnival is about so much more than the final performance. When local people get together and collaborate through the arts, they grow and form connections that can reap rewards for years to come."
BJamba leader Josh Jackson says “BJamba has always welcomed any opportunity to work with other groups and artistes.
"This collaboration, facilitated by Global Grooves, will be spectacular! We cannot wait to bring the carnival sound and colour to Kendal Calling “
Kelly McClelland, founder, Eden Dance, said: "Our dance students and community dancers are all really looking forward to taking part in the grand finale at Kendal Calling.
"My students were already familiar with many of the Carnival dance moves, but have had to learn the parading element and connection to the live music, which they have found really fun.
"We have three sets of mothers and children taking part, which brings a lovely generational element."
Cathryn Peach-Barnes, creative director, Kendal Calling, said: "This is the largest Carnival that Kendal Calling will have staged with more artists and community members than ever before.
"We're so excited to be a platform for such excellent talent in Cumbria, coordinated by phenomenal long-term collaborators Global Grooves."
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