The Long Road Festival 2026 Review
Over the late August bank holiday we descended for the seventh time on the beautiful setting of Stanford Hall in Leicestershire for this year’s The Long Road festival and it is quite hard to decide where to begin. It’s quite funny how I joke with American artists that as a nation, us Brits really are like Goldilocks in that we want the perfect porridge or in our case weather but struggle to find it so complain when things are too much one way or the other. The event we attended two weeks prior to TLR was too dry and people had to contend with the dust so just outside of Lutterworth, Mother Nature decided to even things out and make things rather moist.
Rain and mud have been common occurrences over the years at a large number of festivals across the British Isles but the country family had not really had to contend with it for some time and thunderstorms in a tent create a strange sensation to your senses especially if you are someone that finds the sound of rain pouring slightly therapeutic to try to get to sleep with. The rain was not the only liquid to be pouring (no, I am not talking about the quantity of fermented fruit in cans I was purchasing from behind the bar) as tears were also a heavy part of the weekend as country community were mourning the loss of Dolly Parton just prior to the festival and some highly emotional tributes were shared across the four days.
Once again, the run of bad luck with alternate headliners needing to be found late in the day continued and many would feel that a Rolling Stone accompanied by Imelda May provided even more appeal, which was justified throughout Ronnie Wood’s Saturday night closer. This would follow the biggest crowd puller of the younger generation with Canadian sensation Josh Ross delivering a high intensity, energetic, vibrant and crowd-pleasing show.
Rain and mud have been common occurrences over the years at a large number of festivals across the British Isles but the country family had not really had to contend with it for some time and thunderstorms in a tent create a strange sensation to your senses especially if you are someone that finds the sound of rain pouring slightly therapeutic to try to get to sleep with. The rain was not the only liquid to be pouring (no, I am not talking about the quantity of fermented fruit in cans I was purchasing from behind the bar) as tears were also a heavy part of the weekend as country community were mourning the loss of Dolly Parton just prior to the festival and some highly emotional tributes were shared across the four days.
Once again, the run of bad luck with alternate headliners needing to be found late in the day continued and many would feel that a Rolling Stone accompanied by Imelda May provided even more appeal, which was justified throughout Ronnie Wood’s Saturday night closer. This would follow the biggest crowd puller of the younger generation with Canadian sensation Josh Ross delivering a high intensity, energetic, vibrant and crowd-pleasing show.
The Rhinestone or main stage was where we saw the majority of our personal programme but Zandi Holup, Jonny Morgan & The Moral Support, Australia’s Hayley Jensen and the latest person to utilise the Country in the UK tour management service: Dawson Anderson (definitely need him back with a band because the Front Porch was the busiest I have ever seen it) all played to huge crowds across the festivals other beautifully themed stages.
This year saw some highly appreciated changes to the site and the facilities with the shift for general camping over to beside the exit from the site by the Interstate state plus the pontoon bridge across the river to the new location of a number of the traders and the new bar at the front left of the Rhinestone Stage went down really well. Whilst I personally am not a Jubel fan, having the availability of gluten-free beer on draft was very popular, whilst Brothers being the cider available was something that I definitely was a fan of unlike the quantity and positioning of chairs in front of stages. Chairs in festival arenas are one of my biggest pet peeves which I gladly take every opportunity to jump on my soapbox about because I personally feel they should be banned COMPLETELY but understand the arguments against my perspective and accept that in certain circumstances they can be accommodated. However, the Interstate tent is not one of them and this year presented not only a selfish position that prevented the opportunity to be able to enter the stage and watch music in addition to sheltering from the rain but also became a health and safety hazard which the security was unwilling to address. The solution is to take away any interpretation and follow suit of larger festivals like Reading, Leeds and Victorious which occur over the same weekend where chairs are not allowed, period!
Beyond chairs, the weather and the inconsistency of the security staff (which having worked artist liaison at two other festivals this summer, I have to observe that TLR did not have the best) I cannot pick any further faults. The beer prices were festival standard, there was a lot of food options which were again not excessive in price with ease of finding hash browns in the morning being very convenient and the atmosphere was welcoming, inclusive and presented a really good vibe but above all the performances were of the highest level that was enough to sell the festival on its own.
On stage, Maren Morris was impeccable to bring the event to a climax. I have been a huge fan of her since she first ventured across the pond a decade ago for C2C, where I have seen her every time that she has been over and feel that “HERO” remains the strongest country album of this millennium but this hit factory was completely on point and the best I have ever seen her on stage. This can be extended to Ryan and Rory, Josh Ross, The Shires, the legendary Emmylou Harris and The 502’s who proved me right to everyone I told “Trust me, you’ll like it!” when they became everyone’s new favourite band.
On stage, Maren Morris was impeccable to bring the event to a climax. I have been a huge fan of her since she first ventured across the pond a decade ago for C2C, where I have seen her every time that she has been over and feel that “HERO” remains the strongest country album of this millennium but this hit factory was completely on point and the best I have ever seen her on stage. This can be extended to Ryan and Rory, Josh Ross, The Shires, the legendary Emmylou Harris and The 502’s who proved me right to everyone I told “Trust me, you’ll like it!” when they became everyone’s new favourite band.
This event feels so familiar and you always feel like you are returning to greet an old friend every summer, so we are excited to come back in 2027 for year eight and many more years to come because the vibe is so special. It is so warm, it is so fun and it is so inclusive both in terms of programming and for people attending on a way that Dolly herself would certainly have approved and she definitely was looking down on the English countryside with great joy. The event not just draws the curtain on the festival season but continues to be the highlight of the summer, which once again proved unmissable.
The Long Road Festival will return to Stanford Hall in Leicestershire in 2027 between Thursday 26th and Sunday 29thAugust, with early bird tickets set to go on sale at 9:30am on Thursday 3rd September. You can find ticket details and further information on their WEBSITE and you can be the first to know all updates ahead of next year’s event as well as looking back on this years by checking out their socials on INSTAGRAM or FACEBOOK.
The Long Road Festival will return to Stanford Hall in Leicestershire in 2027 between Thursday 26th and Sunday 29thAugust, with early bird tickets set to go on sale at 9:30am on Thursday 3rd September. You can find ticket details and further information on their WEBSITE and you can be the first to know all updates ahead of next year’s event as well as looking back on this years by checking out their socials on INSTAGRAM or FACEBOOK.