If Finsbury Park, Clapton or Brockley felt strangely quiet this weekend, it’s because a healthy portion of Londoners made the pilgrimage to St Giles House in Dorset for We Out Here festival.
Now in its sixth year, We Out Here has grown into one of the UK’s most vibrant medium-sized festivals, where the joy lies as much in what you stumble across as the sets you plan to see.
That’s thanks to Gilles Peterson, who curates the lineup each year. The BBC Radio 6 Music tastemaker and Brownswood Records boss has spent decades championing world music, jazz, hip hop, electronica and everything in between, and that DNA runs through the programming. You don’t come here for blockbuster names; you come to discover.
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Pa Salieu fired the starting gun on Friday afternoon, bounding across the main stage accompanied by two faceless dancers dressed in fuzzy costumes. His track Energy jolted the crowd awake, setting the tone for the weekend. By Saturday morning, the festival had hit its stride. The Brawnswood tent was buzzing. People enjoyed huevos rancheros, Bloody Marys and live sets curated by Brownswood Records; there was plenty of nourishment for both stomach and ears.
Saturday afternoon saw Aba Shanti-I fill The Bowl stage with a dub reggae set that echoed through the trees in the heat. Later, Rotary Connection 222 delivered one of the festival’s most ambitious moments: a headline performance celebrating the music of visionary composer Charles Stepney. Backed by lush arrangements and soaring vocals, they reimagined classics including Earth, Wind & Fire’s Reasons, Deniece Williams’ Free, Minnie Riperton’s Les Fleurs, Rotary Connection’s I Am the Black Gold of the Sun and Flowers.
Music is only half the story here. This is a festival where you can stumble from a bass-heavy tent into a fine dining dinner. Food and drink offerings were as diverse as the crowd. Jerk chicken sat next to vegan Indian comfort food, and local producers such as Cranborne Chase Cider poured vintages from wooden barrels, while El Rayo’s frozen margarita quickly became the unofficial drink of the weekend. For the hardcore foodies, the On Rotation pop-up restaurant was the place to be. They hosted three-course dinners curated by rotating chefs, soundtracked by their favourite records. The only snag? If you’re in need of the toilet, you’re forced to leave the stylish confines of the restaurant to find a stinky festival loo, because there wasn’t a designated toilet. Not ideal mid-meal.
The weekend’s heat was relentless, the ground parched, and every dancefloor kick sent up a fresh dust cloud. Signal was virtually non-existent, which made finding friends tricky but encouraged more real-world encounters. Those in desperate need of signal were told to locate the roaming Wi-Fi buggy. This is run by the festival’s network provider who proudly drives around the festival with the network name and password plastered to the back of his vehicle. It was always trailed by a large convoy of phone-wielding adults, and many ran towards the buggy like kids chasing an ice cream van.
Sunday brought more contrasts. Loyle Carner tugged at heartstrings with his soulful rhymes, while A Guy Called Gerald turned another corner of the site into a sweat-soaked Jungle workout. Threading through it all was Peterson himself, DJing his closing set at The Bowl. His set was a lovingly arranged ode to the weekend, weaving in tracks from artists he’d invited alongside feel-good classics.
It’s easy to see why many keep returning. There are no stressful set clashes, and each stage is a comfortable walk away. First-timers like me grumbled slightly at the lack of signage, as the stages were hard to locate on the map. Toilets, too, were thin on the ground for a festival this size. Both are small issues, but ones that are easy to fix.
With good weather, a diverse food offering and a lineup stitched together with genuine care, 2025 proved that We Out Here is one of the UK’s most rewarding festivals that thrives on leaning away from mass market festival tendencies.
We Out Here returns in 2026. For more information click here
