The Long Road Festival is easily one of the most easy going and family friendly music festivals in the UK. Dedicated to Country, Americana, Bluegrass and more, the festival attracts a niche market but is always a sell out (or close to) every year.

It doesn’t take particularly long to walk from one end of the Long Road Festival site to the other. Two main stages and a few smaller ones, nowhere is so crowded that you are put off going!

It is pretty easy to be ‘up close and personal’ on any stage at the Long Road Festival, even moments before a set starts – the headliner may be different especially at The Interstate Stage but the main stage is pretty easy and most places have a great view. That’s part of what makes The Long Road Festival so homely. People can bring their own chairs and place them in front of the main stage – albeit to a certain point of course, and sit back and enjoy music as they wish.

So with all of these comforts and relaxed environments, is it necessary to pay extra for the High Falootin’ VIP area?

That is simply up to you! It has always had a really divided opinion!

Looking at 2024 cost for the high falootin’ VIP area, it looks like it is £88 per ticket for the entire weekend! Children under 5 are free but you still have to order a ticket, you simply just don’t get charged for it.

So if you were going the whole weekend that works out at just under £30 a day!

The High Falootin’ VIP area is located next to the Rhinestone stage which is the main stage. The Rhinestone Stage is not used on the Friday as it isn’t a full days event so in terms of using it to watch the Rhinestone Stage, Friday does not count.

The High Falootin’ VIP Area may be close to the Rhinestone Stage but it is a side view (and not a great one at that) so if you want to be ‘up close and personal’, it may not be worth it for you to buy it for that purpose. However, if you want a more less crowded area to sit back and relax and aren’t bothered about being at the front then it may be for you!

There are tables and chairs scattered around but they do get taken up pretty quickly and most are used by the same people all day so in order to get those spots, you will have to arrive in the morning. We brought our own chairs last year and this served us well. Other people bring their chairs too and reserve the spots by the fence that separates the VIP from the main area. We were happy where we were at the back though away from everyone as we had space for the kids to run around and play with other children. In the evening last year, Solo Stove provided a fair amount of their smokeless fire pits which was a lovely addition to keep you warm and snug! I believe they may be there this year too!

Another perk/benefit of the High Falootin’ VIP area is the toilets. For me, this is always a winner. I am a toilet snob! I hate festivals at times purely on the whole toilet situation. The toilets in the VIP area rarely have queues all day. It gets busier at night but definitely better in the day! Now they aren’t toilets to write home about but the toilets are in a porta cabin with proper flushing toilets and sinks with running water and mirrors unlike the ones in the main area in individual portable toilets that rarely flush, get backed up and there is no real sink – although they do have sinks with running water outside which a lot of festivals have stopped offering!!! The queues for the main arena toilets can get pretty busy though!

So now I say there is less people…..A lot of people said that last year was over sold and it became very crowded. Because I was at the back I can’t say that I paid much attention to that. People have said that it was difficult to move through the sea of chairs.

So apart from it being a nice relaxing area (mostly in the day although I was cosy and happy in the evening) and nicer toilets, what else does it offer?

A much smaller queue for the Bar!!!!

This can be absolutely essential if wanting to rush back to your base to watch live music!!! The bars can be horrendous!!! Of course the bar will get busier as the evening goes on but in comparison to the main arena, it was a much less wait and a practically walk in in the day!

Last year the High Falootin’ VIP area also had a cheese and wine bar. This was pretty quiet all weekend. We did have a platter of cheese which a friend purchased and let us share and it felt quite good value (for festival prices). I think it was about £20 but there were a lot of cheese and crackers.

This year they did have a lack of a hot food vendor but I do think that is perhaps down to the vendors not doing so well financially in the VIP area in previous years. That does need to change though. The trek from the VIP area to food and back (especially with large queues which most vendors had) you end up taking about 40 minutes to return to your group.

So what would we like to see this year at the High Falootin’ VIP Area to improve it??

As we just mentioned a hot food vendor. I think some sort of BBQ would be nice! This would be really appealing for VIP ticket holders and a lovely way to soak up the atmosphere in the way that it was probably intended. A BBQ to get hot dogs and burgers and a Vegan option obviously, would work in VIP I think!!! Chips for children is a must, maybe some nuggets or pasta. You see with a BBQ you can then have a salad area and maybe some Jacket Potatoes. There’s so much that could work! I’d be happy with anything though although I do tend to camp out at Texas Smoker in the day and would do the same in the evening, it’s so worth it!!!!

Less tickets sold! Again as mentioned above, people have said it was too crowded. The more crowded, the less VIP it feels! People want to feel like it’s money well spent and having it be too congested, makes it feel no different than being in the main area.

A Coffee and tea stall. PLEASE!!!!! There were a serious lack of stalls providing tea and coffee at The Long Road Festival last year and those that did had ridiculous queues especially early in the day! This is a camping festival!!!! We need our coffee and tea in the morning!!!! As media, we had no time to get anything which was a real shame!! To make the VIP area more of a relaxed environment, we think a coffee and tea stall would be very beneficial. Not everyone drinks alcohol and everyone would appreciate it in the morning. It would also be lovely to get a nice hot chocolate in the evening! What would also be fun would be for The Long Road Sponsors O’Donnell Moonshine to provide hot chocolate (if they did last year please correct me) as their Macadamia, Tough Nut and Sticky Toffee Moonshine is DELICIOUS in hot chocolate. If they are already at the event, maybe they can have an extra stall in the VIP area with a bar, hot chocolate and coffee and tea options. It doesn’t all have to feature the moonshine of course! Also, O’Donnells do a mean BBQ sauce which I would happily buy to add to my BBQ if we had it available!

A dessert option!! If we had a coffee and tea stall in the VIP area then please allow a range of puddings too. Not just cakes and cookies but maybe some Crêpes? Waffles? This would be great for the large amount of children I saw in the VIP area too (and me!!!) It would certainly keep them (me) quiet ha! Hmm or maybe on a sugar high??

Bring back the sofa styled chairs. I don’t believe I saw them this year? If I remember correctly, this prevented people from flooding the area by the fence with their own chairs. Of course it was limited seating and it was all taken from the morning but I quite liked that it allowed less people in that space. It also felt more VIP as you were more comfortable!

With it being not such a large space, the more added, the less space for comfort so that is probably all we would suggest! We can’t fill it with vendors and activities but there is definitely room for a couple!

For £88 upgrade/add on for the whole weekend it isn’t too bad if it is what you want but it is a lot if you want to experience ‘up close and personal’. For me it’s worth it for the toilets alone as at some festivals you pay around £30 a day just for posh loos (or what they deem as posh loos). But with that being said, if there’s a large group of you it is costly, even two tickets adds up to be quite pricey! It really is a decision to research and ask others but also why not try it one time and see what you think for yourself? As I have said, I have always been quite content there.

Have you been in the High Falootin’ VIP area at The Long Road Festival before? Did you think it was good value for money? Do you think they could do more to improve the area? Let us know!!!