Gilles Peterson's We Out Here festival, now in its permanent Dorset home, delivered a sold-out 25,000-capacity event over four nights, featuring 400 live acts and headliners including Thundercat and Peven Everett.
Set in the lush grounds of St Giles House, the BBC 6 Music legend's latest show brought together DJs across 15 stages, with family and wellness areas, continuing its reputation as one of the UK's most-loved festival dates.
A festival built on community and eclectic programming
Starting out in Cambridgeshire seven years ago, the gathering has grown into its permanent home in Dorset. The festival joins the musical dots between jazz, hip-hop, house, afro and electronica, adding the community vibes of Glastonbury albeit with a smaller footprint.
Imaginative eclectic programming attracted the most inclusive crowd on the festival circuit, with all ages and creeds represented. Most revellers met had been more than once and saw the event as an annual fixture in their summer calendar.
Music highlights across the stages
Music highlights were non-stop. Lone rocked the Grove with 90s rave nostalgia on the opening Thursday night, followed by another BBC 6 Music star, Jamz Supernova, at the state-of-the-art stage Rhythm Corner.
On Friday, music segued from jazz – featuring the likes of Corto Alto to Brazilian veteran Arthur Verocai, who created a rich blend of samba, soul, and jazz with a 20-piece ensemble – to electronic late into the night. Highlights included jazz-rappers Digable Planets, Joy Crookes and Adam F live, leading the rave backed by a full band.
Disco Davids and Dianas enjoyed the festival favourite Love Dancing tent once again this year: Colleen Murphy packed the venue to capacity with her cosmic beats with clear, crisp sound and production. Secret sets in the woods featured mystic sounds with Gilles Peterson and friends, while Brown Excellence rocked the Roller Rink, blending leftfield UK electronic sounds with Hindustani melodies, Arab rhythms, and 80s/90s Bollywood and Arab funk.
House music legend Kenny Dope Gonzalez was super popular at the Grove, but the very welcome addition of the Beat Hotel stage from Glastonbury took some of the overflow. Paula Tape's upbeat electronica was another real moment on Saturday night at this worthy new venue on the site. Four Tet closed the state-of-the-art Rhythm Corner on Sunday night with the audience already buzzing about We Out Here 2027 on the walk back to their tents.
Wellness, creativity and accessibility
Like Glastonbury, the festival stands out for its atmosphere as much as the music – this year was all about togetherness and healthy hedonism. The Sanctuary wellness area turned standard selfcare into a massive community hang, complete with hot tubs, saunas, and ice baths at the Wandering Wild Spa building connection and collective rituals.
Yoga, meditation, music, sound therapy and workshops alongside swimming were all on offer, but the area felt so welcoming that many merely spent the day chilling in the sun chatting to friends, old and new. If you wanted to get creative, the Craftwerk area offered awesome communal DIY slots like printing, weaving, and life drawing, while the little ones built their own adventure wonderland in the family area.
The Talks Tent kept the conversations flowing again, speaking of the importance of community spirit in divisive times, and Blink Mental Health was on hand providing free therapy with psychologists and counsellors throughout the weekend. Dedicated quiet spaces were available for those needing a breather. Plus, the site was incredibly accessible, featuring wide, step-free pathways encouraging wheelchair navigation.
This 25,000-capacity party completely sold out four months in advance this year. Expect more of the same next year – if you want in on We Out Here, get in quick.
