CUMBRIA'S biggest music festival got into full-swing today, as the late arrivals ignored the weather forecasts and set up camp for a packed weekend.

Friday, traditionally Kendal Calling's 'first day proper', was the first time that the whole Lowther Deer Park site was open to festival-goers, with more than 12 stages hosting live music and comedy throughout the day.

Headliners Stereophonics were the band that the majority of the 25,000 capacity crowd appeared to be most eagerly anticipating, though there was an array of stars that made up the bill.

The Main Stage was also host to top British acts Kate Nash, Circa Waves and Jake Bugg, while the dance tent line-up had world famous rapper and producer Example at the top of the bill.

The 'minor' stages featured acts covering just about every genre imaginable, and, despite the disagreeable weather, large crowds gathered for almost every performance throughout the day: current North West indie trendsetters Cabbage had fans clambering to see them under the cover of the indoor House Party stage, while even the early-afternoon appearances from Penrith's Melanie Baker and 'the Fresh Prince of Shap', west coast comedian Dicky Dippinson, drew impressive audiences to the Carvetti stage, hidden among the trees.

A particularly poignant moment came when poet Tony Walsh, aka Longfella, introduced the day's action. Last month he performed his poem dedicated to Manchester at the Albert Square ceremony as the city stood defiant in the wake of the terrorist attack, and he revived it again for the Kendal crowd, who joined in with the impassioned reading.

An animal-themed parade snaked its way across the site in the downtime between Main Stage acts, bringing with it a carnival atmosphere and a cacophony of African and samba drums.

The surroundings are what marks Kendal Calling out from the crowd, and the woodlands came alive as the light fell, with fluorescent lights and glow-painted performers. Some of the eye-catching installations found in the forest include a pair of stained-glass Reliant Robins and a birdcage - complete with a disco ball - atop a snack van.

Stereophonics, who last week announced a brand-new album, chose to focus their headline set on their greatest hits to close the Main Stage action.