The Long Road 2025 • Festivals • DIY Magazine

Across the site of The Long Road, dogs potter around taking in the smells of BBQ ribs and brisket, miniature cowboy hats placed between their ears. Groups of friends and families set up camping chairs in front of the main stage, set for the day. There are several people testing the temperature of the River Avon, which cuts through the middle of the arena, cold water swimming providing a refreshing start to the day.

Acting as the UK’s premier outdoor country music festival (and a halfway point in the year, after Country To Country Festival), The Long Road excels in its grassroots focus and exploration of country’s sub-genres, each stage showcasing emerging talent from the US as well as focusing on local UK talent, with artists regularly combining country with Americana, folk, roots, rock and pop.

Stanford Hall stands tall watching over the site, which is tastefully designed to feel like an all-American experience. Across six stages, there are cooking showcases, a fairground, hay bales, axe throwing, quizzes, panels, songwriter rounds and a non-stop programme of artists from morning until the early hours.

This year, the festival has undergone an expansion, adding a third day (running a full programme from Friday to Sunday) as well as a new stage, The Hitching Post – the Texas-inspired dance hall structure which features everything from a homegrown talent competition, line dancing lessons and artist interviews, to album listening parties and a beautifully chaotic disco rodeo hosted by Girls in Low Places (featuring sparklers, confetti and 60 minutes of country hits).

On Friday, songwriter Maya Lane takes to The Front Porch, singing some recently released new music as well as a Fleetwood Mac cover. It's beautifully intimate - surrounded by flowers and dimmed lamps, performing on the porch of an old house - and the crowd listen to every word. Later on, Drake Milligan’s Elvis-indebted honky tonk provides an energetic end to the first day, as the rising star cements his status as a headliner.

Saturday sees the more contemporary-sounding country pop acts lead throughout the daytime, with Mackenzie Carpenter performing songs from her recent album 'Hey Country Queen' as well as Megan Moroney’s ‘I’m Not Pretty’ (which Carpenter co-wrote), before Jeorgia Rose performs in the VIP section, her songs combining personal, tongue-in-cheek songwriting with a sound reminiscent of Taylor Swift’s 'Fearless' era.

Lying down on the grass under the sun, organ sounds float across the wind from one direction, the sound of Henry Webb-Jenkins performing pedal steel for Maria Byrne from another. Later, as the sun sets, the sound of the festival shifts, with Charles Wesley Godwin leaning more on Americana and folk, before Midland bring their Texas dancehall sound to the main stage to close out the night (or get it started...). Rattlesnake Johnny soon keeps things going with a high energy DJ set, whilst punters have the chance to get on stage themselves at Buddy’s Good Time Bar with country-oke.

For the festival's final day, Halle Kearns and Fancy Hagood open up the main stage, with Hagood in particular earning a swathe of new fans after his set, which includes a version of Robyn’s ‘Dancing On My Own’ for good measure. Trousdale - dressed in ABBA-inspired outfits - show off their three-part harmony, before Alana Springsteen proves why she’s a reliable name on any festival bill: her set comes full of big hooks and big choruses. It’s perhaps testament to the variety of artists on display at the festival that Springsteen is followed by Seasick Steve - two artists unlikely to ever appear on the same bill again, never mind consecutively on the same stage. Seasick Steve introduces himself by saying "I don’t play country, I play loud", before showing that sometimes less is more, performing with just his drummer and shredding on guitars that are missing strings or, in some cases, are completely homemade (one of them is simply a plank of wood with one guitar string attached, and an old can of sweetcorn turned into an amplifier). Steve makes it sound like this was the way guitars should always be made.

The array of artists on display at The Long Road demonstrates country music’s greatest strength: its variety. On this evidence, the fastest growing genre in the UK shows no sign of slowing down.

The Long Road Festival will return in 2026, with next year's festival taking place from 28th to 30th August 2026. Tickets for next year's event are on sale now.

Tags: James Bay, Seasick Steve, The Long Road, Festivals, Reviews, Live Reviews