A perfect end to the festival season, a music festival for truly dedicated music lovers set in the enchanted Larmer Tree Gardens.

The idea with the End of the Road Festival was to organise an intimate festival with our favourite artists and to create a festival with a friendly and relaxed feel. The Larmer Tree Gardens (North Dorset/Wiltshire borders, UK) is the perfect venue to create this kind of atmosphere - where music-loving, open minded and chilled out people get together in the beautiful countryside whilst parrots and peacocks wander around! This is the kind of festival where the ENTIRE line-up is the headliner in itself!

Review

What a perfect way to end the festival season. Apart from the fact that we had one last festival to review the week after, this would have been a great way to end yet another year of amazing music festivals! End of The Road Festival is a festival for the music fan who really appreciates quality performances. The arena at Larmer Tree Gardens and the sound system at End Of The Road Festival create the most perfect soundscape for a music festival. Performances from Fleet Foxes, Vetiver, Explosions In The Sky, The Hold Steady, Alela Diane and The Leisure Society treat our ears to a variety of captivating sounds.

The highlights of the weekend were by far husband and wife duo Wild Birds & Peacedrums with their sensual percussion sounds, Explosions In The Sky with their passionate and powerful instrumental music, and Efterklang. Watching Efterklang in the Big Top tent was the highlight of my summer, their performance awed the crowd. Efterklang is a Danish word for remembrance or reverberation, and their sounds brought forward such a wealth of emotions within myself and many others within the crowd, that this will ensure itself as one of my most remembered festival moments. If you get the chance to see them on tour make you sure you take the opportunity, it’s one that you will not regret.

Being held at the end of September and having a smaller capacity means that this festival will never be filled with your typical festival hordes and will be filled with music enthusiasts wrapped in winter coats, hats, and warm gloves whilst supping on hot spiced cider from the Cider Bus. Conversations tend to focus on the performances, recommendations for similar artists and on which other festivals you will or have been attending. The site itself is small enough to be welcoming and yet there are still enough places to escape, including the enchanting woodland walk and the tree of knowledge. Walking through the woods one night we came across an impromtu performance from Blanche Visarro playing on the Piano, singing songs about a 1920's silent film star who tells stories of love through her songs. Sitting on the stage watching her performance made us feel such a part of the festival, not something that is easy to create. A welcome addition this year was the multicoloured disco floor at the Disco Shed, and the circus performers as ever kept us entertained during the day with their mad skills.

If you are thinking of going next year the early bird tickets are already sold out so make sure you get your ticket as soon as the next batch is released along with a good 4 season sleeping bag, and a really good quality tent that will keep you warm in the extended season.

Recommended for: Serial festival goers, music enthusiasts, and anyone looking for a smaller festival with a magical atmosphere.