End of The Road Festival Review

As I experienced my first time at End of The Road festival, they were celebrating their 10th birthday. I was expecting an unforgettable weekend (despite the amount of alcohol consumed) as they had claimed the title of "the best festival of the season" from Time Out, and one of my close friends had been going every year since they first started.

I have to admit that I bought my ticket quite ignorantly, only knowing a few artists on the line up. But I soon did my homework, and the more I listened to the Spotify playlist, the more I couldn't wait to hear all the artists play live.



On the Friday night, everyone flocked to see the Australian headliners, Tame Impala. We had squeezed our way into the crowd and despite having a limited view, I was blown away by the lights that lit the stage alongside the music. They perfectly complemented the psychedelic rock that blasted from the Woods stage and definitely made it a show.

They had set the bar high for the other headliners over the weekend but I was really excited to see the Michigan born songwriter, Sufjan Stevens, do his first ever UK festival performance. Themes of life and death were played through tracks from his newest album, "Carrie & Lowell" and a mix of mellow and melancholic vibes surrounded the audience. The hypnotic lighting alongside his soothing voice on tracks like "Sister" and "That Dress Looks Nice On You" was so moving that it caused us to sob throughout the whole set.. Another favourite for me was "Should Have Known Better", the church-like background graphics and footage of Stevens as a child made it that extra bit special.

  

Loving the sunny festival vibes

If the music line-up wasn't enough to satisfy your festival needs, there were plenty of other ways to stay entertained over the weekend. Vintage clothes stalls and shops were around every corner for reasonable prices meaning people were reppin' fashion from all decades.

For the 'mornings after the night before', there were yoga and meditation workshops in the woods to ease into the day. Also in the woods was a section for games like giant jenga, bowling and ping pong which was all good fun when you wanted to chill out.

Another of my favourite features was the cinema. On the Saturday morning, me and my friend made the effort to get up at 10am (it was a tall order...) to go and watch School of Rock. It was such a lovely way to start the day and having film themes for each day over the weekend was a good idea as it meant there was something for everyone's tastes.

For those nights when you wanted to party after the headliners, there were discos in the woods which went on until 3am. It was all set up in such a magical way, with fairy lights scattered around everywhere and the DJ's playing on a ship as you boogied on the light up dance floor. There was also a silent disco, where you could join a crowd of people dancing away to the option of two different channels on the headphones, both bringing brilliant tunes. Having these after parties definitely made the weekend even more special and completed the days off nicely when you just wanted to let loose and dance the night away.

We were always so spoilt for choice when it came to deciding what to eat for dinner each evening, I've never seen such a variety of food in one place before! Each stall looked delicious, of course it was standard festival food prices (£6-9 for a meal) but I felt it was worth it with generous portion sizes and great quality food. One of my favourite stalls was the warm cider van to keep you warm on the chilly nights!

Madison Ward & The Mama Bear 

Getting back to the music, not only were there great headliners to enjoy over the weekend but a huge range of upcoming artists were there to discover too. One of the stand out emerging artists for me were Happyness, we came across the 3 piece on the Big Top stage and their alternative rock album was a first I downloaded when I got home.

Madison Ward and The Mama Bear were also a highlight when they performed in the Tipi Tent. With it being a sunny Saturday afternoon, their lighthearted country set went down a treat and they stayed afterwards to sign albums, so it gave the audience a chance to have a chat with them too. Mac DeMarco definitely knew how to celebrate the festival's birthday in their own style on Sunday as by the end of the set on the Garden stage, a birthday cake was thrown into the crowd!

  

Camping buddies 

Sunday night brought the band that I anticipated the most, The War on Drugs. I had had their 2014 album "Lost In The Dream" on repeat for weeks prior. The thought of hearing tracks like "Red Eyes" and "Under The Pressure" played live amongst an enthusiastic crowd with my friends only excited me.

They didn't disappoint, playing all the bangers that the crowd wanted and I didn't/couldn't stop dancing the whole way through! It was the perfect end to a unforgettable weekend, the fact that I bought my 2016 ticket as soon as I got home speaks for itself...

"End of The Road can feel all their birthday wishes came true here" - NME

Hannah Jolley