We Out Here 2025
Entering its sixth year and fifth consecutive sell out, ‘We Out Here’ has become a pilgrimage for music lovers everywhere. This award-winning medium-sized festival plays host to an array of programming unrivalled in the UK scene and, as its organiser Gilles Peterson hailed in the closing party, perhaps even The World.
You’d be forgiven for imagining this event to be filled solely with millennials and Gen Z’ers from the most sought after areas of East and South London. We certainly had that expectation. Rather, the broad spectrum of ages and cultures in attendance creates a true community feel. What’s impressive is that not one of these people are left wanting for activities. Beyond the rich musical offerings there is a whole spectrum of entertainment: an ever-expanding kids and family area, book talks, a wellness sanctuary complete with spa, music production workshops, an around the clock fairground, art, shopping, local beer offerings, a food line up as diverse and tantalising as the acts on stage and, new for this year, a sit down restaurant with guest chefs.
There’s a relaxed atmosphere which perfectly mirrors the area of outstanding natural beauty in which it is situated. Consistently easy come, easy go and you’ll be able to achieve the desired crowd spot for any performance. It’s hard to imagine a larger collection of people anywhere in the UK enjoying a lower level of stress all weekend.
Nor will you find a festival the country over with better sound quality. Period. It’s as if Peterson has hand delivered his own Brownswood soundsystem to Dorset, every speaker perfectly tuned and delivering crystal clarity.
Genuine joy is found at every turn, coupled with a collective desire for discovery amongst the crowd, the focus on time well spent here is palpable. Self-professed music nerds amongst the audience will feast, and those with a more casual outlook will never be far from unearthing a new favourite. There’s no need to rush, everything is easily achievable and you’re rarely troubled with disastrous clashes.
In short we loved it and will count ourselves amongst the many, many return visitors in the years to come.
Read on below for a comprehensive view of the weekend; what went well, what didn’t, the music which wowed us and thoughts for what could be next for this piece of musical heaven carved out down in Wimborne Saint Giles.
Thursday #
Few artists on the bill personify the ethos of ‘We Out Here’ more than the enigmatic and enterprising composer Hermeto Pascoal. So, having made it into the delightfully open main arena, there was no better place to start the musical journey of the weekend. Sun beaming down equal to any from their native Brazil, his band put on a delectable and often innovative show with vast instrumental variety, the most curious being the rhythmic playing of rubber animal toys. Perhaps not as much of a showing from the main man himself as you’d have hoped for, but there’s no doubt the entire performance was one crafted in his vision.
Switching over to the secondary stage Lush Live, a Bahraini-born duo are putting on a feisty showing. Bringing with them an eightpiece ensemble, Dar Disku possess a truly unique sound. A funky fusion of electronica and Middle Eastern beats, complete with a chorus of powerfully haunting vocals, it’s fair to expect big things from them in the future. The next few hours provide perfect introduction to the world spanning delights the festival will offer across the coming days. Florence Adooni bosses the Main Stage personifying Afro Funk, Shy One gives us a bass-fueled introduction to The Bowl, a venue with a tantalising potential. Nubiyan Twist serve up a commanding jazz fusion, filled with swashbuckling instrumentals.
The arena is now filling, people finding their space, anticipation at an all time high. With the bravado only an American can bring, Chicago-based Noname closes out The Main Stage. An hour filled with charisma and charm flies past with this spoken work maestro leading us all into the night. Rounding off the evening with Theo Parish, who is at the end of an eight-hour marathon, feels apt. There are few, if any, who could be selecting tunes with greater aplomb at this stage of a set than the man from Detroit. You’d be forgiven for thinking he’d been barely playing an hour, let alone seven, and nearly everyone around us had the appetite for another eight. Long live The King.
Friday #
A forced early night, Thursday’s cut off being midnight, results in early risers. With that comes perhaps the first indication that certain facilities across the site are slightly oversubscribed. If we’d had a pound for every time we overheard “Taps and Toilets” it would have been an extremely profitable weekend. More on this later.
Unsurprisingly The Sanctuary wellness area was bereft of the same fate, with everyone looking for something to fill this scorching morning. Humorously the queue to exit the wild swimming was longer than any we saw for food or drink all weekend, never mind the one to enter the water. Hard to know exactly how to improve such a dilemma other than perhaps tiring people out more the night before, or encouraging a booking policy on wellness activities. Ambling around in the sunshine this was easily not dwelled upon, particularly as the music was soon to start.
Nowhere better to begin the weekend proper than witnessing a certain French born DJ open his own festival. A right of passage for many. With Peterson playing songs from his latest ‘Presents : International Anthem’ collection, fans and friends alike were treated to a free flowing and eclectic spread of sounds. This genre bending compilation perhaps a challenging listen for some, but if there’s anywhere to present such a selection of music it is here.
A quick dip into Love Dancing provided an opportunity to do just that, with Mr Scruff’s takeover well under way. Back-to-back with Cami Lay Okun the pair put on a Latin-infused performance with Salsa pits spontaneously breaking out across the extremely pleasing wooden floor. The DJ area is perhaps one of the largest you’ll see, but it becomes all the more understandable when appreciating just how many vinyls are being spun back here. Now for an act much hyped by Gilles himself: Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou. Benin musical royalty, this 10-piece collective impressively still has five founding members from the 1960s and they were a joy to behold. As with many acts on the line up, they blend a wide variety of styles: funk, afrobeat, psychedelia, jazz. Overall, a glorious concoction of African dance music and the perfect sunshine band.
Lea San and Rosie Lowe put on encapsulating vocal-led performances, but however both somewhat fell victim to the searing midday sun. Lowe performed acoustically in a packed Brownswood tent where the bar was doing a rip roaring trade as people sought solace in the shade. A frustrating sound clash. The former was on Lush Life, one of the best sounding stages on site. However many acts across the weekend were falling victim to unfairly small crowds as people hid in the welcoming shade of the trees off to stage right. This is not a problem exclusive to ‘We Out Here’, but UK festivals in general need to improve at manufacturing shade. We are entering an era where summer events are drier and hotter than ever before, and it is not a difficult problem to solve. A few canopies erected amongst the crowd on some far from intruding scaff poles and Lush Life becomes a musical sanctuary from the heat whilst remaining an open air stage. Not only are they functional in the sun, they can look great and serve as shelter in the rain. Ideas for future years perhaps.
For many in attendance the following act will have provided one of the albums of the year in 2024’s ‘Endlessness’. Nala Sinephro’s spellbinding hour was an oasis in the heat. The Colombian-Belgian harpist kept an highly expectant crowd hooked on every move with her breathtaking compositions, combining classical and contemporary jazz with extremely spiritual synthesised beats. The pop of concentration as she and her band finish songs is almost audible. A performance that is a genuine pleasure to witness and one which was incredibly expressive and moving for what feels to be such a personal instrument.
Bopping back down into The Bowl, which was now starting to really showcase its strength as a venue, and Horse Meat Disco are behind the decks. Sunset perfectly framed over the stage and between the trees, and with shapes being thrown all over the slopes, the party was well and truly getting started. This mood carried back to The Main Stage where ‘the irregular’ Pa Sailu was whipping up the crowd. His pumping afrobeats had a raucous stage show to match, the vibes not dropping off throughout. Serious energy.
MJ Cole is an act who is undoubtedly a tribute to everything this event represents, the scene, the culture, the heritage. However, is he a well suited headliner? After a summer of appearing at nearly every festival on the circuit, this was a performance that felt a little tired and lacked the usual je ne sais quoi of a ‘We Out Here’ act. A rare miss.
Poly Ritmo entertained on The Roller Rink, a fun little venue which during the day is a constant rotation of ravers young and old skating along to well curated beats. Ritmo herself is an esteemed selector and simply never picks a bad song. Attempts to get into The Grove for Osunlade were sadly completely futile with stressful bottle necks at the strangely zigzagged entrance. One area which is not short of space however is Rhythm Corner and here both Carl Craig and Ben UFO demonstrated their years of experience in commanding large crowds into the early hours with hard-hitting beats.
Saturday #
A delightful breeze led a slower start to Saturday, which extended from punters to performers alike. Richard Russell’s Everything Is Recorded eventually kicked off our proceedings after a lengthy soundcheck, however their unique sound which mashes together a huge collaboration of musicians was more than worth waiting for. There was no such lethargy to the next performance. Legendary Latin singer Joe Bataan rolled back the years with bucket loads of charisma. A true master of his art, this King of soul was a genuine pleasure to watch. Class oozed from the stage, his grandfatherly charm welcoming everyone in for a dance - a springboard for the day. Dipping back into We Love Dancing provided one of the funnest musical discoveries: The Eves Drop Collective, a 14-strong collective of female DJs, MCs, vocalists and selectors who roll back the years fusing all their skills into a raucous good time. Seek them out if you see them on a line up.
As evening set in, Jalen Ngonda took to The Main Stage. A generational voice soothing the souls of everyone in attendance ready for the night ahead. Heading to Lush Life a large crowd had gathered for a very different voice of a generation. Winner of the Mobo’s 2025 top album prize with ‘Being Poor Is Expensive’, British rapper Bashy has garnered a whole new following post his 15-year hiatus. Now back and perhaps more talismanic than ever, he bridges hard-hitting topics with both candour and compassion that makes him impossible to ignore. A captivating performance raw with emotion, this man has rightfully earned his place at the top table of British Hip-Hop and the next steps on his journey will be fascinating.
A sense of awe and appreciation was required for The Main Stage headliner to follow. Having never performed outside of Chicago, bringing Rotary Connection 222 this side of the Atlantic is a serious coup for the festival. Pulling the generational sounds of Charles Stepney into 2025 with all the swagger of the man himself. It’s genuinely impossible to count how many they’ve crammed onto the stage, but every single one of them is pulling in the same direction. A magnificent sound which left several members of the crowd around us gasping.
What followed was by far the funnest night of the festival, seemingly every venue we entered had an immaculate vibe. Luke Una’s E Soul Cultura Takeover of The Bowl provided a sensational backdrop to it all. A sea of colour and happiness, just watching the various disco sticks bop around was enough to keep you entertained. Truly one of the greatest late night venues out there. Hunee needs no introduction but his section in the midst of this needs a special mention. Fleeting visits to the equally joyous Francois K and Liverpool’s legendary Macca elsewhere across the site proved the disco beats were flowing everywhere. But The Bowl kept drawing us back; its slopes were the place to be and provided a night to remember.
Sunday #
As with any festival Sunday you awake with the sense that tomorrow is indeed coming. However there was a much more gentle feel to it on the estate of St Giles. An appreciation of what has gone before and a day which would serve as suitable wind down from the frivolities of the days previous. A steady pack up around the site resulted in what felt like a calmer and quieter day was to be had, especially with another midnight curfew ahead.
The music however was no less experimental or boundary-pushing. Zacchae’us Paul, a jazz hip-hop fusing artist from Atlanta did his best to entice people from the safety of the shade on Lush Life, but it wasn’t quite enough at an early hour. A forever-attentive Main Stage settled in for a highly immersive blend of spiritual jazz and South Asian devotional music with the angelic Ganavya. When Emma-Jean Thackray vs Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith is your greatest clash of the weekend it really speaks volumes of the event you are attending. Two highly talented composers from either side of the pond. For us Kaitlyn won out, a rare chance to see this eerily cosmic electronic musician, putting on a real feast for the curious mind. Again the searing sunshine stole much of her crowd to the shade, but the moody synths were greatly enjoyed nonetheless.
The entire day felt set up to sooth the soul and prepare you for reentry to the harsher worlds beyond these fields. Our final two acts were no truer representation of that, firstly Incognito, brain child of Jean-Paul ‘Bluey’ Maunick and Paul Williams. This legendary Jazz collective played out their own impressive back catalogue before bouncing around an ensemble of better known ‘hits’ from artists they’d worked alongside such as Steve Wonder and Chaka Khan. Peterson himself sat in the front row with a smile beaming across his face. The whole performance felt like a tribute to music and the place it holds for all of us, even more heartfelt so Bluey gives a timely but tragic reminder of his Parkinson’s, but in doing so, reminding us all to cherish every moment. A band who most definitely do this are Kokoroko, one of the bands who appeared on the very first ‘We Out Here’ compilation of which the festival is named after. This sevenpiece funk and jazz ensemble led by a highly rhythmic percussion pairing wistfully led us into the night and back to the much less colourful outside world. A fitting end to a fabulous weekend.
Whilst we did not stay for Loyle Carner, a shout out to the festival for managing to organise such a prestigious stand in at such late notice for Micheal Kiwanuka. We wish him a speedy recovery and hope to see him playing again very soon.
Closing Thoughts #
Everything at ‘We Out Here’ is truly set up to allow you to get lost in the music. That is undoubtedly the main event. This is hardly a surprise when considering the man behind the festival’s inception has dedicated his entire life to championing pioneers of the scene, nurturing the culture around it and himself pushing the boundaries of creativity. The crowd is formed in his image: attentive, curious, exploratory and giving every act and performance the deserved space and adulation. There is a truly special atmosphere and appreciation here for the music that is on show.
However peep beyond this and there’s certainly some rough edges and stress points where the limits of the event are being pushed. Parts of the site felt distinctively unfinished well into Friday: Heras fencing left bare exposing back-of-house areas that you’d otherwise expect to be out of the public eye, new fences appeared where they weren’t before and at times there was a complete lack of light guiding the way at night. A wet year would be more than a worry, not least because of the topography of the site.
The most consistent queues across the weekend were for sanitary facilities within the campsite, which should really be ground zero of festival organisation. Certain areas were clearly under supplied, and across the site it wouldn’t be an unreasonable suggestion to double the amount of water points. Beyond Friday evening it felt as though the toilet cleaning staff had downed tools, that or they simply couldn’t keep up. The choice of the fillable Pluto urinals, which barely suffice at day festivals, over ones with actual drainage feels an oversight and one which resulted in some unpleasant underfooting as the festival went on. Not to mention the resultant smell from those instead resorting to using the fences in an attempt to avoid soiling their favourite trainers. Having spoken to loyal patrons of the event, this is not the first edition with toilet based woes. Festivals have generally come a long way in this regard in the last few decades and there’s no excuse for an event that sells out year on year to be lagging behind.
These are some minor complaints on an otherwise exemplary event - but being one which feels like it has the space and undoubted potential to grow, there are early warning signs of where the bubble could burst.
Potential expansion for this event is an interesting thought. The site could almost certainly hold more, the desire for unique and personable events such as these in a landscape of landfill copy paste festivals as rich as ever (just look at the success of Greenman), and the community of genuine music lovers seems to grow year on year. But part of what makes this place special is the close-knit sense of community, the generousness of space, being able to see who you want to see, when you want. Ramp that up and perhaps the soul of the place is lost. Perhaps that’s what makes this place feel like a well kept secret. So if you’ve made it this far through the review you either enjoyed the weekend as much as we did, or have a natural curiosity which is perfectly suited to a weekend down in Gilles Peterson’s Dorset playground. Earlybird tickets for 2026 are on sale in the coming weeks and we cannot recommend you pull the trigger enough. Bring your friends, but maybe not all of them.