Furness-based bands Boom Dang and Blast Furness Street Band are set to grace the Kendal Calling music festival stage for the first time next month.
Two long-standing community bands from Furness will grace one of the north's best-loved music festivals next month.
Boom Dang and Blast Furness Street Band will join a star-studded line up, including Paolo Nutini, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, Sugababes, and The Streets at Kendal Calling in August.
The festival, which takes place in Lowther Deer Park from Thursday, 1 August to Sunday, 4 August, will culminate in a grand finale on the Sunday orchestrated by international carnival specialists, Global Grooves.
Sunday's finale will take inspiration from Kendal Calling's theme of 'the high seas,' and is aimed at including as many music enthusiasts as possible, with participants' ages expected to range from 25 to 85.
A nautical carnival queen will lead the parade, riding high on a horse-drawn cart.
The colourful procession will include costumed dancers, walkabout puppets and flag bearers.
Festivalgoers will be able to interact with puppets such as Sea Spirit, Cyclone the goat ghost and the seafaring carnival queen herself, The Spirit of Courage.
Adorned by her mariner’s astrolabe-cum-headdress, and trailing a 5m hand-painted silk ship's sail, she will be a focal point of the procession.
Boom Dang and Blast Furness Street Band have been teamed up with all-ages community music group, Baybeat Street Band, for the parade, and the three ensembles will form its 45-person strong musical backbone.
Leon Patel, CEO of Global Grooves, said: "Global Grooves specialises in bringing together diverse community groups to create professional level carnival experiences.
"We know that Blast Furness Street Band and Boom Dang 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."
Therese Johnston, director of Boom Dang, said: "Our members have been asking me for years to get a gig at Kendal Calling.
"But I just never knew anyone that could open that door for us until Global Grooves came along.
"Everyone is super excited."
Martin Scragg of Blast Furness Street Band added: "We are very interested to collaborate with other local bands.
"And working with Global Grooves is giving us the opportunity to get involved in such a large scale and exciting arts project.”
Kendal Calling's creative director, Cathryn Peach-Barnes, 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 and Lancashire, particularly Boom Dang, who will be at Kendal Calling for the first time, coordinated by phenomenal long-term collaborators Global Grooves."
More information can be found on Kendal Calling's website at https://www.kendalcalling.co.uk/.
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