Festivals

There are a number of festivals and events taking place year-round in the Lake District National Park. In late April and into early May, the Kirkby Lonsdale Beer and Music Festival draws a crowd for, you guessed it, beer and music. Around the same time, the Cumbria Life Sausage Festival takes place at Muncaster Castle and the Marmalade Festival at Dalemain near Penrith. In May you have several festivals including: the Keswick Jazz Festival, Hutton-in-the-Forest Plant and Food Fair, the Freerange Comedy Festival in Kendal, Keswick Mountain Festival, the Brathay Windermere Marathon and Half-Marathon, and the Festival of Fools at Muncaster Castle. June brings Country Fest in Crooklands, the Great North Swim in Windermere, the Keswick Beer Festival and Boot Beer Festival, and the ever-popular Woolfest in Cockermouth. In July you'll have a number of agricultural shows as well as the Derwentwater Regatta. August sees several agricultural shows as well. In September the Borrowdale Shepherds' Meet in Rosthwaite is popular as is the Kendal Torchlight Carnival. In October and November you begin to see fewer gatherings, but the Lakeland Trails gathering in Coniston, Lakes International Comic Art Festival in Kendal, and Kendal Mountain Festival are all popular. Among the most popular gatherings is November's World's Biggest Liar Competition, at the Bridge Inn at Santon Bridge in the western Lake District. This is a good-natured storytelling competition that's more about inflating the truth than delivering it. They advertise that no politicians or lawyers can enter as they'll have a natural and unfair advantage.