The Long Road, one of the UK’s biggest celebrations of country music, is returning in just 2 months. The festival will be bringing all the sounds of country, americana and roots to Stanford Hall in Leicestershire for August bank holiday weekend, with a line-up featuring Bailey Zimmerman and Emmylou Harris.

As country music becomes a major force in the UK industry, American-inspired events like The Long Road (TLR) have become a highlight of the British summer, where attendants can dress up, enjoy fantastic barbecued food, and dance the night away. Running since 2018, the festival transforms its site at Stanford Hall near Lutterworth in Leicestershire into a modern cowboy paradise, giving fans a place to embrace the country lifestyle and discover a massive variety of activities alongside it’s deep roster of musical acts.

This year’s edition kicks off on August 27 and runs until August 30, starting with a Friday night which stars Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member Steve Earle and Country Music Association (CMA) Award winners from the UK, The Shires, at the top of the bill. Saturday is headlined by multi-platinum singer Bailey Zimmerman, before Sunday sees 14-time Grammy winner Emmylou Harris play before five-time CMA Award winner Maren Morris closes the weekend.

Elsewhere on the stacked line-up we find Irish blues artist Muireann Bradley, Californian country singer Sheyna Gee, and West Virginia multi-instrumentalist William Matheny. The weekend is also packed with British stars, including Manchester singer-songwriter Bec O’Malley, London folk two-piece Ferris & Sylvester, and Sweet Thieves, another London duo. See the poster below for the full lists of acts performing at The Long Road 2026:

In keeping with the festival’s mission to promote country music in the UK, it runs a Homegrown Talent Contest. Last year’s winner Liam Price has earned a spot on the main stage line-up after a huge year, and the now the hunt is on for this year. The contest will take over The Hitching Post site on the Sunday, hosted by Irish singer-songwriter Janet Devlin, and judged by a panel including TLR’s creative director Baylen Leonard, Radio 2 producer Mark Hagen, William Morris Endeavor (WME) agent Hannah Spark, and Sara Pearce, a publicist at Lime Tree Media. The winner will receive an assortment of prizes including a performance slot at The Long Road next year, a one-year CMA membership, a slot at the Snakefarm Label Showcase and A PR consultation with Weller Media Agency (WMA).

Perhaps the biggest draw of TLR is the culture and engagement – all of which compliments the music. This year has added events for beginner, advanced, and family line dancing activities, open mic events, as well as late night after-parties and a hootenanny. Then there are car and motorbike shows, the ominously-named ‘cowboy olympics’, and their hugely popular ‘country-oke’ among so many other amazing distractions. And then there’s the food – there are smoky barbecues all across the weekend, including Austin-style BBQ from TLR’s partners at Red Dog Saloon, and a range of craft beers.

The Last Road 2026 will bring the country feel to Leicestershire from August 27 to August 30. The Tickets for all 3 days, weekend general, and their ‘High Falootin’ VIP Tickets’ are on sale now, as well as camping, glamping and live-in vehicle packages. Applications for the Homegrown Talent Contest are open now, and close at 11:59pm on July 19. Click here for more information on The Long Road’s site at Standford Hall and how to get there.