The jewel in the crown of the UK festival season never fails to close out the summer with an almighty bang, and this anniversary year looks to be no exception.
End of the Road is a festival that rewards curiosity as much as loyalty, with smaller stages often delivering some of the weekend’s most memorable moments. Whilst the cult legends locked in as headliners are impossible to ignore (not to mention the tantalising promise of ‘SECRET HEADLINER TBA’) it is, as ever, the art spaces, workshops, and smaller artists and stages that really have us hooked.
Peppered with So Young cover stars old and new; Just Mustard, Model/Actriz, Fat Dog to name a few, alongside some of our favourite emerging artists in Adult DVD, TTSSFU and Silver Gore, the long weekend in the picturesque grounds of Larmer Tree Gardens is shaping up to be one of its strongest instalments yet.
But it’s not just the music that sets this festival apart. Each year, its deep-rooted commitment to the visual arts becomes a spectacle in its own right: towering installations, thoughtfully curated film programmes and a cohesive visual identity that flows seamlessly from posters to signage to merchandise. It’s an immersive world that feels considered at every level.
We caught up with the team behind it all to try and unpick that seemingly magic formula, discussing inspirations, evolution, and how End Of The Road continues to refine its singularity year after year…
View this post on Instagram
We’re excited for End of the Road 2026. Five months out, which element of planning is taking up most of your time right now?
Up until recently it’s been the lineup which we finally wrapped up, now we’re focusing on improving everything across the site, we go through every area and see how we can improve it for next year. We’re planning all the surprise bands at the moment which is really exciting.
Could you tell us an artist you’re most excited to see return to the festival? And who’s the first timer you can’t wait to host on site?
Well this is our 20th anniversary, so I’m quite excited about having Jeffery Lewis back who played the first year. Brakes who played the first few years. Super Furry Animals are the obvious ones who are returning. I’m excited to have Pulp for the first time. I’m usually excited about a lot of the small bands and the leftfield stuff. I am very excited about YHWH Nailgun who have never played before, Way Dynamic, there’s loads and loads! Really excited for Earl Sweatshirt, Los Thuthanaka, Bassvictim, I could go on forever. The surprise band, though they have played before, but I won’t say who that is.
Each year’s poster introduces new themes and visual ideas, but still manages to feel distinctly End Of The Road. How do you strike that balance between refreshing the design and maintaining a recognisable identity?
I guess the main thing is we’ve kept the same designer since the second year of the festival – so for 19 years. We’ll change the colour format every year. The designer will spend a couple of months thinking about the festival, looking at the lineup and I’ll tell him what we’re working on. He takes a lot of inspiration from the bands actually and the design will change slightly with that, very subtle but you can notice a tip of the hat towards the lineup.
Previous posters have often featured lots of illustrated elements that are then echoed around the site in wooden signage, on-screen-graphics and merchandise. How important is that sense of visual cohesion across the whole site/experience?
We try to keep a lot of the colour matching across the site. A lot of the initial influence for the festival and the illustration was not just taken from music, it was a lot from film, David Lynch has been a huge influence on the visual identity as well as a lot of weird 1930s film, i’m a big movie goer, so there’s been a lot of influence taken from films and references from films ever since the festival begun. From Fellini, Kubrick, Billy Wilder, really so much influence but it’s all very subtle. And then from artists as well, I always meant for this festival to not just be a festival, more of like an art project, I wanted to take people there to escape.
Larmer Tree Gardens is such a distinctive and historic setting. How do you ensure the festival’s visual identity complements, rather than competes with the existing architecture and art?
It’s a beautiful setting and there’s a lot of stuff we just leave because you don’t need to dress it all. With the countryside and nature there’s just no point in putting loads of stuff in there.
How early does the visual identity for each year begin to take shape, and what does that process look like from concept to execution?
We feed the lineup to the illustrator who is also a big music fan and then he feeds into that and then we talk about films and influences. Last year David Lynch passed away and so there was an emphasis on that. I think David Lynch has been one of the biggest influences on this festival full stop.
Do you usually work with a consistent pool of art directors and designers, or are you actively seeking new collaborators each year?
We like to have new collaborations, people come in and do guest spots, on the art team we have about 35 artists and we try and make it cohesive but also we like to allow lots of freedom to design and do their own installations. We like the installations to be as interactive as possible. There’s been a core bunch of school friends who are all artists, who have been there since 2006 who are still there now plus lots of new friends we’ve met on the way, local artists who we get involved, we start that process each year by taking submissions for installations.
Is there a particular year where you felt the visual side of the festival really took a leap forward?
I mean, I’m not really that happy with the first year’s art design, it was a bit too twee in the first couple of years but then it really moved forward around the 10th anniversary and we really found our ground. It all started to come together and ever since then it has got stronger and stronger.
Is there anything new for this year that people should keep their eyes peeled for?
I just like surprises quite a lot and so try not to give away too much. Every year we’re just trying to improve every single area. We’ll fine-tooth comb it all! How can we make that better? How can we make that more interesting? How can we make that stage sound or look better?
The new issue of So Young is out now. Buy in print here. Read the digital edition below. Subscribe to receive every issue here.