Meet The Team: First up, the driving force of the whole festival, Dave Camlin

Dave Camlin on the Glade Stage 2025. Photo credit Peter Skillen

How did you get involved?

The Cumberlandia festival feels like a natural extension of lots of the creative activity bubbling up within our little west Cumbrian folk community, including the community choirs I lead, as well as the Merry Neets and folk events we’ve been organising over the last few years, the grass roots pub sessions around the area and the proliferation of creative projects and bands that have been flourishing off the back of that. There’s also the legacy of Solfest, as some of us were involved right at the start of that, and the Rivendell site has been developed by Joanne and Alwyn Braniff who were part of the original Solfest committee.

What were the highlights of 2024 or 2025 for you?

Loads of the stage performances have been brilliant, but what I particularly enjoy is the sessions and the open mic stages where people get to express their creative sides in a supportive and friendly community. It’s great to see people building confidence and trying things out that they would never have imagined themselves doing. 

What are you looking forward to for 2026?

This year is going to be fab – we’ve got some great guest artists, and we’re planning lots of ways for people to be involved, from music and craft workshops as well as dancing and participatory music making. Bitterbeck have been working up a great new suite of songs to weave into the welcome with the village choir, inspired by the Glade and the non-human life that thrives there all year round. We’re just guests in the natural world, and Cumberlandia is a great way to celebrate that, doing the human thing  of tuning in to each other to produce harmonious sounds. 

Any top tips for this year's visitors?

Explore the site, and say hello to everyone. We’re only a little festival, so you’ll see everyone lots of times, and you might as well get to know each other a bit. And join in – even if it’s just quietly tootling on a whistle or singing along round a fire session or in the shack, or sharing something you’ve written in the open mic – people will love the fact that you’re contributing to the festival vibe, and sharing something of yourself.

What should people absolutely not miss?

There’s so much to see - do get there early to catch the welcome ceremony with Bitterbeck and the village choir and some special guests – it’s going to be a very magical start to the weekend, and you’ll be gutted if you have people telling you all weekend how great it was. And I’m very excited to be bringing the full line-up of The Lonnings to the festival this year, and I think that will be pretty magical too.

One thing people should bring with them?

Camping seat, with a drinks holder.

Anything else you'd like to add?

I know it might sound cheesy, but I genuinely do think we’re in the business of making the world otherwise over the weekend. When we make music, we make kin. Hopefully everyone who comes will be inspired to want more of this kind of communal lifestyle in their lives, where everyone is a potential friend, and creativity is an important part of everyday life.