Joined by headliners Fever Ray and Bonnie “Prince” Billy, the lineup is rich with delights from the best music outside the mainstream.

End of the Road returns to Dorset this August, always a highlight of the High Festival Season. Its rolling hills of campsites, beautiful grounds and relatively small capacity makes for an especially sociable festival experience, while its winding woods make for the best spots for mischief for children and adults alike. Reliably bringing together the very best artists from outside of the mainstream, its lineup can define a year in music.

The first wave of artists has dropped today, with a strong leading line of modern punk titans IDLES, post-rock legends Slowdive and radical Swedish experimentalist Fever Ray, whose live sets are a sight as well as a sound to behold. Add to that Bonnie “Prince” Billy, reportedly a target of the festival’s since it began, and you’ve got a very strong headline set. Following on the bill are indie royalty Yo La Tengo, live favourite Baxter Dury and Lankum, who redefined British folk with last year’s ‘False Lankum.’

These names are joined by two of Britain’s finest songwriting exports of recent times in Richard Dawson and Gruff Rhys, as well as West Coast modern psych icon Ty Segall performing solo. Fresher faces on the bill include the description-defying Jockstrap and New York artist Joanna Sternberg, the latter having been trying to make it to this festival for several years now. English Teacher also get a high profile billing to come in the wake of the release of their debut ‘This Could Be Texas.’ 

Those who missed Water From Your Eyes’ UK dates last year need to catch them this time round and can do so here. The same applies to Australia’s brilliant Rock ’n’ Roll ’n’ Synth outfit RVG, who we loved at The Great Escape last year.

Digging deeper into the lineup, we continue to spot gems including south coast psych-rockers Holiday Ghosts, the devastating Sarah Meth and country janglers Brown Horse among many other treasures. Catch you at Larmar Tree Gardens?