The 2024 Long Road Festival Review
Overall Impressions of The Long Road Festival 2024
This year the organisers of The Long Road Festival pulled out all the stops, upping their game from last year and increasing capacity for visitors, especially for those that wanted to camp.
The ground was very well prepared with all the usual attractions, as well as a few extras to keep festival goers entertained, fed and comfortable.
The addition of more food vendors and stalls meant everyone was well fed and able to shop to their hearts content. The Showground was a great addition, with stripped back and surprise pop up performances, dancing and all-round fun. The Solo Stove stand was a real winner as they had them fully fired up with logs burning and offering marshmallows to toast on the fire and biscuits to make S’mores and was especially welcome when the weather turned a little for the worst.
The stoves were also available in the Solo Stove area all fired up, as well as in the VIP section, and I have to say they gave plenty of heat and a place to dry off.
Access to the festival ground seemed easier and moved freely with queues kept to a minimum. This helped on the Friday when campers and live in vehicles pitched up, as well as the day visitors gaining entry. The overall feel of the venue was welcoming, warm and friendly with plenty of security and site staff to assist if needed.
The Line-up
This years line-up was of a high quality with a plethora of new acts as well as the established label artists.
Friday night was topped off by Chapel Hart, now a Long Road favourite, returning for their third year. Their show in the Interstate had us all smiling, singing and dancing, setting the mood for the rest of the weekend. Luckily, they switched up their set from previous years with a couple of well-known covers that the audience ate up.
One sad point on the Friday night was at the after party, which was kicked off by Redferrin. His set started late due to technical delays and was then cut short by at least ten minutes. This left the crowd very unhappy and for the first time I can remember, The Long Road was actually booed. The feeling from the audience was that The Long Road should take more notice of the crowd and give the artists the time they were programmed for. Especially as the next part of the after party was a DJ set so Redferrin wouldn’t have been taking time from any other artist, rather a small amount of time from a DJ.
Excluding the Redferrin debarkle, the line up was strong and there were many acts to discover, many playing multiple stages giving everyone a chance to catch acts without the dreaded festival clash.
There were clashes as you would expect. Everyone has different tastes and wants, so it’s impossible to avoid or keep everyone happy but the organisers did a great job making the acts as accessible as possible.
- Some of the highlights for me were:
- Julian Taylor – The Interstate
- Kaitlin Butts – Buddy’s Bar
- Colbie Callait – The Interstate
- Angie K – The Front Porch
- Kristian Bush – The Rhinestone
- Redferrin – The Interstate
- Wood Burnt Red – The Front Porch
The quality of acts was superb this year but there were a number of acts that have been at the festival several times. This could become a bit of a sticking point for patrons in the coming years if the trend continues.
The Facilities
The facilities were of the same standard as previous years, with plenty of toilets, all kept clean and generally well supplied. The rubbish disposal points were plentiful and with separate bins for recyclables and general waste, which were cleared regularly. The bars were supplying reusable plastic cups at a cost of £2.00, this was either refilled or replaced each visit but if you lost it, you were charged another £2.00. Maybe the supply of a token for the weekend would be a better idea, then you could get a free replacement on production of the token, this would also make things easier at the end of the night as people wouldn’t need to go to the bar to return their cup and get a token for the following day. This would be great for day ticket holders who don’t want to take a cup home with them as well as on site patrons who may have left their cup somewhere. The other option would be to add £2.00 to the ticket price and pass this onto the bar companies. The bar companies charge enough for the drinks that the cup cost should be a once only charge.
Food and Drink
This year saw a good number of bars with a variety of drinks available. The different bars sold different drinks so the variety was possibly greater than in previous years. Service was fast and a pleasant experience. The cost was significant but no more than other festivals and cheaper that venues such as The O2 Arena in London.
The food and drink vendors were in abundance. This year there appeared to be more vendors selling food from every corner of the globe. The queues were manageable but timing your food was key to getting served in a timely manner. Avoiding the 5:00-6:30pm rush was a good idea and then service was swift.
There were a number of BBQ vendors as well as curry, Pad Tai, Mac n Cheese, burgers and so on and even included food stands for those with a sweet tooth. From the feedback given by patrons, all the vendors provided value, good quality, hot food at a price they were reasonably happy with.
My advice would be to see who was ordering what and how large the portions were once served. Some, to me, seemed on the small side for the amount paid, others gave generous portions.
Other Attractions
The American car and bike display, The Lucky Dice Classic Car & Bike Show, was of a high standard this year with a good variety of bikes, cars, trucks and even a lorry.
The vehicles were grouped with similar vehicles making the displays eye catching. The vehicle display was just behind the Showground Stage drawing people in once they had seen what was happening at the Showground at that time. The display was closed off with barriers early evening so viewing during the day was essential.
The fairground was in attendance, as always, and was a firm favourite with festival goers who want a rest from the music, not that there was ever a time you couldn’t hear a stage. There were also country-music related stands selling cowboy hats, boots, clothing and jewelry as well as further entertainment of axe throwing, wild swimming, dog show & costume parades and mechanical bull riding to keep everyone happy, children and dogs included.
All in all, it seems to have been another very successful festival for the patrons and the organisers of The Long Road alike and I look forward to seeing what they can do for next year!