Culture
Royal Northern Sinfonia brings candlelit winter concert to Kendal Parish Church
Royal Northern Sinfonia will perform at Kendal Parish Church on Saturday 28 November as part of a festive tour also visiting Carlisle.
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Culture Town Centre
Kendal Whisky Festival moves to Brewery Arts for its biggest 2026 weekend yet
The Kendal Whisky Festival will take place at Brewery Arts on Highgate on Friday 4 and Saturday 5 December 2026, with three sessions, around 40 exhibitors and more than 200 whiskies. Tickets are listed at £45 per session, although the festival’s About page still shows an older £40 price.
Culture Town Centre
Kendal Halloween 2026: the pumpkin patch, ghost tours and spooky events worth booking now
Kendal’s 2026 Halloween programme includes pumpkin picking near Sedgwick, candle-lit ghost tours at Levens Hall, Halloween activities at Holker and horror screenings at Brewery Arts. There is currently no Halloween trail, parade or trick-or-treat event listed for Kendal town centre.
Culture
Kendal Parish Church secures £3m heritage grant for major restoration project
Kendal Parish Church has been awarded more than £3 million by the National Lottery Heritage Fund towards a £4.3 million programme to restore its 15th-century tower and Bellingham Chapel roof, while creating new community spaces and reducing carbon emissions.
Culture
Westmorland Orchestra brings Grieg, Nielsen and new Kendal composition to Parish Church
Westmorland Orchestra will perform a programme combining international classics with Anna Appleby’s contemporary work Bridges at Kendal Parish Church at 7pm on Sunday 15 November.
Culture
£3.1m National Lottery grant unlocks urgent restoration of Kendal Parish Church
Kendal Parish Church has received a £3.1 million National Lottery Heritage Fund grant towards a £4.3 million project to repair its 15th-century tower and Bellingham Chapel roof, improve access and create flexible community spaces.
Culture Town Centre
Kendal’s packed autumn diary: Comic Arts Festival, ghost tours and 40 more events to book
Kendal’s autumn events calendar runs from the Lakes International Comic Arts Festival in early October to Remembrance Sunday and November’s Kendal Mountain Festival, with Brewery Arts, Levens Hall and the Market Place hosting major attractions.
Culture Town Centre
Free Kendal festival will offer winter jabs and home adaptation advice to older people
Kendal Leisure Centre will host a free South Lakes Age Friendly Festival on Sunday 4 October, with eligible visitors able to access winter vaccinations, advice on adapting their homes, local activities, live entertainment and support services without booking.
Culture
Cine-Macabre brings cult horror and Halloween scares to Brewery Arts in Kendal
Brewery Arts has announced Cine-Macabre, an autumn cinema season featuring horror classics, supernatural films, anniversary screenings and Halloween family entertainment in Kendal.
Culture Castle
Kendal Christmas 2026: four family shows announced — but no traditional panto
Families looking for Christmas theatre in Kendal will find four short productions in Kendal and nearby Bowness, including The Elves and the Shoemaker at Brewery Arts from 19 to 28 December. No traditional pantomime is currently listed for Kendal’s 2026 festive programme.
Culture
Kendal Age Friendly Festival to offer free activities, advice and winter vaccinations
A free Age Friendly Festival will take place at Kendal Leisure Centre on Sunday 4 October, giving older residents and other visitors access to activities, live entertainment, community information and health and wellbeing support.
Culture
Kendal’s first heritage weekend brings autumn fete, performances and community stalls to Abbot Hall Park
Kendal Town Council is preparing an autumn fete at Abbot Hall Park this Sunday as part of the town’s first heritage weekend, with family activities, local organisations, food and drink, performances and fundraising for two mayoral charities.
Culture
Abbot Hall makes UK first with £30,000 fund to bring emerging art to Kendal
Kendal’s Abbot Hall has been selected as the first UK recipient of the Dasha Shenkman Focus Fund, giving Lakeland Arts £30,000 to acquire a work by an emerging artist from Frieze London’s Focus section.
Culture
Free heritage events across Kendal will unlock the town’s history this September
Kendal Town Council is planning 10 days of free heritage events from Friday 11 September, including tours, talks, exhibitions and an autumn fete at Abbot Hall Park.
Culture
Kendal firefighters take the stage as rescued teenager reunites with lifesaver at Rheged concert
A charity concert featuring musical talent from Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service raised money for the Fire Fighters Charity and Great North Air Ambulance, with rescued teenager Kacper Krauze reunited with one of the firefighters who helped save him.
Culture
Brewery Arts in Kendal shortlisted for major cinema award – public vote now open
Brewery Arts is asking audiences in Kendal and beyond to support its bid for the British Independent Film Awards’ Cinema of the Year award, with voting open until 22 September 2026.
Culture
Kendal Museum secures £100,000 for two-year Nandi heritage project
Kendal Museum has been awarded £100,000 for a two-year project with Cumbria Development Education Centre and the Nandi-Kendal Association exploring the connected histories of Kendal’s World Wildlife Gallery and Kenya’s Nandi community.
Culture Town Centre
Kendal Torchlight will not go ahead in 2026 as organisers pause carnival over funding gap
Kendal Torchlight has been postponed for 2026 because of rising operational costs and reduced confirmed funding, with organisers aiming to bring the town’s major carnival back in 2027. Conflicting event listings still advertise the September procession, while Visit Kendal says it is not going ahead this year.
Culture
Kendal Christmas lights switch-on confirmed for Friday 27 November, but timings remain unknown
Kendal BID has confirmed that the 2026 Christmas lights switch-on will take place in and around Market Place on Friday 27 November. The event is expected to include late-night shopping, entertainment and a farmers’ market, but no start time, parade route, line-up or road-closure arrangements have been published. A separate Christmas celebration has conflicting dates in two listings.
Culture Town Centre
Kendal Mountain Festival 2026: passes are on sale, but the film programme is still months away
Kendal Mountain Festival will return from 19 to 22 November 2026, with day passes from £25 and a weekend pass priced at £205. The event will use 10 venues around Kendal, while its film programme is not due until mid-October.
Culture
Brewery Arts reveals £4 cinema tickets for National Cinema Weekend in Kendal
Brewery Arts will offer £4 tickets for standard cinema screenings on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 September 2026 as part of the expanded National Cinema Weekend.
Culture
Free Kendal Music Festival brings two days of live music to Brewery Arts
Kendal Music Festival will take place on Friday 4 and Saturday 5 September at Brewery Arts, with free live performances, food and drinks available to buy, and no booking required.
Culture
Kendal Music Festival Returns This September with Live Music Across the Town
Kendal is set to come alive with live music this September as the Kendal Music Festival returns, with Kendal BID announcing the event’s comeback.
Culture Town Centre
What’s on in Kendal: exhibitions, live music, workshops and walks listed for summer 2026
Visit Kendal’s arts and culture calendar lists 12 events and exhibitions across Kendal, including projects at Abbot Hall, live music at Brewery Arts Centre, creative workshops, outdoor yoga, an adventure writing group, the Kendal Walking Festival and a September quiz.
Culture Fell
Brewery Arts Kendal reveals packed September programme with live music, comedy, cinema and creative events
Brewery Arts has announced a wide-ranging September 2026 programme in Kendal, including tribute concerts, comedy, spoken word, cinema screenings, creative courses, exhibitions and new social events.
Culture
Kendal’s Woolly Wander summer trail returns with a nod to the town’s trading past
Kendal’s 2026 Summer Trail is under way, with wool at its heart and a focus on the trade that helped shape the town.
Culture Fell
Summer Sundays bring five free music afternoons back to Brewery Arts in Kendal
Brewery Arts has welcomed more than 1,000 people to the first Summer Sundays event of August, with four further music-filled afternoons planned and new evening entertainment added.
Culture
Brewery Arts Open Exhibition 2026 celebrates record submissions and Kendal’s creative talent
Brewery Arts’ 2026 Open Exhibition has opened in Kendal after receiving a record number of submissions from artists across the region. Louise Sturgis won the Judges’ Choice Award, while Tim Watson received the People’s Choice Award voted for by visitors.
Culture
Kendal’s summer calendar is packed: the standout events, exhibitions and family days to book now
Kendal’s official What’s On listing features exhibitions, concerts, family activities, outdoor sessions, community meetings and festivals running from late July into September 2026.
Culture Fell
Brewery Arts unveils Fell Brewery takeover across Kendal venue this August
Brewery Arts has announced a new partnership with Flookburgh-based Fell Brewery, bringing refreshed bars, new branding and a larger local-beer presence to the Kendal arts venue during its August Summer Sundays programme.