From the double winning Operation Moffat to the BMC Media event and from the Advertising Trailer to the new Advanced Basecamp there's been a changing of the guard as the festival targets a new generation.

The hub of the new Advanced Basecamp

Of course the icons of the last decade are still drawing the crowds but for the first time in the last 10 years both Hot Aches and Posing Productions walked away empty handed from the awards. This year's trailer was a radical departure that targetted a younger audience and the Marmot tent featured a graffiti artist on the final day. There was a 16 year old on the Judges Panel and in the redesigned basecamp there was a total redesign based around a central "fan zone" with a bar, screen with free shows and informal seating. Wherever you looked the telltale signs of change were unmissable.

Graffiti Art in the Marmot Tent

With the redesign came big positives with the annual sardine-can crush around the Box Office as headline films approached almost totally abolished. Where once you had queues for people collecting their tickets at the last minute twisting around the queue for the event and another for the cafe, one for the information desk and those poor few trying to find a route to the toilets there was almost empty space. The information desk was moved to the Advanced Basecamp and numbered seating for the headline events helped reduce the crush and rush for prime seats to a reasonably free flowing stream.

In the redesign of the old Basecamp Kendal have managed to not only change the marquee from a temporary refuge from the elements between sessions to a venue in its own right but also provide for those without the funds to splash out on multiple healine tickets. The "skint" climber/mountaineer stereotype is far from dead, as Jen Randall so poignantly pointed out in her acceptance speech for Operation Moffat, and in the new ABC there were wall to wall free sessions available in the central cafe/bar/seating area while Berghaus and Haglofs ran alternative screenings and sessions from their recycled wood "booths". Combined with the new KMF Jukebox which allows free films on request at Ruskins the end result was that for the first time ever you could spend the whole weekend at the festival without spending a penny! Even the stands not offering themed free sessions were more "hands-on" that in previous years with DMM running a breaking strain test test kit and Patagonia bringing along a seamstress offering free garment repairs for any brand of clothing; an initiave that saw well over 100 items returned to useable condition over the weekend. Petzl again returned with their Ice Screw Challenge, which showed even the experts can have problems placing a bolt single handed in hard ice.

Of Course Kendal wouldn't be Kendal without the stars of the adventure world, and as ever they turned out by the bus load. From iconic regulars like Sir Chris Bonington, Doug Scott and Leo Houlding to the latest global superstars like Tommy Caldwell provided the draw for an audience that spanned the age range of 10 to 90, making it fitting that this years People's Choice Winner was from a young team of Claire Carter and Jen Randall but depicted the amazing life of a 91 year old legend.

Operation Moffat scooped both Best Climbing Film and People's Choice

In what amounts to a reinvention as much as an evolution in the scale of change this year the winners have undoubtedly been the paying customer. The attractions of the new ABC and a more youth orientated focus give the new generation a much deserved recognition while the old guard were still very much in evidence from Andy Perkins presenting the hand picked cream of the sessions to Hot Aches and Posing Productions getting prime slots for their premieres. In securing the presence of Tommy Caldwell the festival recognised the stars of today's adventure world, much as they did with bringing Ueli Steck last year, but it was balanced by the likes of Catherine Destivelle making an appearance and rekindling a whole generations memories.

Legend of 80's climbing, the Rock Queen Catherine Destivelle

The awards started on Friday with the Boardman Tasker going this year to Barry Blanchard for The Calling: A Life Rocked by Mountains and were followed up by the Film Awards on Saturday. We'll be running reviews over the coming days of many of the films but the list of winners is:

• Grand Prize: K2 Touching The Sky (Directed by Eliza Kubarska)
• People's Choice: Operation Moffat (Directed by Jen Randall & Claire Carter)
• Judges Special Prize: The Rider And The Wolf (Directed by Nathan Ward)

• Best Climbing Film: Operation Moffat (Directed by Jen Randall & Claire Carter)
• Best Mountaineering Film: Tom (Directed by Angel Estaban & Elena Goatelli)
• Best Adventure & Exploration Film: The Adventures of Dodo (Directed by Sean Villanueva O’Driscoll)
• Best Culture & Environment Film: Tashi And The Monk (Directed by Andrew Hinton & Johnny Burke)

• Best Adrenaline Film: High And Mighty (Directed by Nick Rosen, Peter Mortimer & Josh Lowell)
• Best Short Film: Denali (Directed by Ben Knight)
• Best Sound: Freefall (Directed by Aimard Alexandre)
• Best Visual: Eclipse (Directed by Mike Douglas & Anthony Bonello)

• Film Active winners:
• School category: Expedition Club 2015U15 category: My Open Water Swimming Blog
• Family category: We're Going On A Wild Camp
• 15-18 category: Speed

The new look for 2015 was a major success, though not perfect and there's a few tweaks that would improve the experience, but given the scale of the changes you can excuse the odd double booked numbered seat (even if you can't understand the logistics of how). Signposting between venues could be better and the less said about the facilities you get for £18 a night on the campsite the better but In years to come people will look back at 2015 as the year the old guard started to move aside for a new generation.

We'd like to thank Kendal Mountain Festival and Blacks for their invaluable support in covering this year's festival and we'll be posting individual reviews over the next few days.