We Out Here 2026

Last year, we asked if enough people were talking about Gilles Peterson’s premier event in Dorset. Fast forward to this weekend’s edition of We Out Here and the answer is beyond doubt. A faster-than-ever sell out, resale tickets nigh impossible to come by, and even random shop attendants in London asking if you were going: the hype was real. 

This impeccably curated event features four full days of music, with over 400 live acts and DJs across 15 stages. Due to the comparatively affordable ticket price, We Out Here represents almost unrivalled value in an increasingly expensive festival landscape. The first of these sets kicks off a mere hour after the gates open at noon on Thursday. It’s questionable whether this is enough time for even the earliest of arrivals to get set up, and feels like a slight disservice to both the opening acts and patrons alike. There’s no doubt it encourages a quicker-than-usual exodus from the campsite, but a few extra hours wouldn’t go amiss, particularly with the festival’s single entry point becoming a very slow-moving bottleneck at peak times. 

Despite recent heatwaves and wildfires in the nearby New Forest, the grounds of Saint Giles House appeared surprisingly luscious. Hugging the River Allen and flanked by forest on the remaining sides, the largely flat site had a delightful ease when walking around. Upon entering and passing the larger-than-ever Family Area, there’s a palpable relief for the break in the weather; late summer vibes are sweeping through a crowd bubbling with excitement and keen for an audio adventure. Early explorers were instantly rewarded with the sumptuous soundscapes for which We Out Here is so well renowned. Whilst a common trope, simply calling it a jazz festival does it a massive injustice. From hip-hop to dancehall, classical to reggae, electronic to Brazilian folk, huge genre swings and the fluidity between them will define your time at this festival. At any point in the day or night you can change course in a matter of minutes due to the close proximity of the stages. A touching feature-length tribute to Arthur Russell by the Speakers Corner Quartet was a poignant display after Butcher Brown had truly kicked things off on The Main Stage with their Virginia-inspired and trumpet-infused jazz. Wolverhampton-born producer Actress capped off Friday on Lush Life with a set of seriously deep cuts, a headline set 20 years in the making.

Thursday’s midnight finish (a smart move for extending people’s weekend stamina and generally whetting appetites) freed up Friday morning — perfect to explore the non-musical offerings of the site. On offer were reflective talks discussing the future of UK dancefloors, seed planting workshops, paddleboarding, swimming and all varieties of water-based wellness. These largely took place in the delightfully wooded and riverside Sanctuary area, where countless yoga circles were breaking out en masse and faster than you could say “downward dog”. Nourishment was plentiful with some of the circuit’s best food stalls, some run by refugees, and for which queues were never long across the weekend. Once refreshed and replenished, you could switch your attention to ambient listening sessions in Ground Tempo or The Knowledge, paired with time well spent bin diving for elusive vinyl at the Near Mint Store. But before long, your mind was returned to the primary conversation of the festival: musical talent and diversity. An early Brawnswood set from ZENA, a newly formed Ethio-jazz duo consisting of Kokoroko’s Yohan Kebede and bassist-producer Menelik, was widely cited as one of the best of the weekend. Established acts such as Corto.alto and Yukimi demonstrated their musical prowess in a pair of punchy sets, whilst a delightful performance from Brazilian legend Rogé and his guitar warmed all of those who had headed to Lush Life in the cold Friday air. 

A special mention for Lush Life this year which felt as though it concentrated and promoted artists who have honed or who are in the process of honing their craft to extreme precision within their particular audio space. It consolidated a particular fanbase from set to set like no other stage in the festival, and the programmers deserve special praise. 

Once you’re in the rhythm of the place, both Saturday and Sunday fly by. Late nights and low-energy mornings are soothed by the delightful local cider stall, offering free apples with every pint. Venture to the far corners of the site and you’ll find a couple of gems. Firstly, The Bowl: a warm embrace of an arena under the sun, whilst at night it’s the final destination, the crowd inching down its slopes towards the stage as night draws in. Secondly, the newly established Beat Hotel, from the team behind Glastonbury’s San Remo. This proves to be a fantastic addition to the festival — no surprise coming from a crew as experienced as they are. An exemplary line-up all weekend sees it continually full; once you reach the front it’s a great venue in which to lock in and hunker down. Particular Beat Hotel highlights included proud new father Macca, the formidable duo of Make A Dance, and the enigmatic Paula Tape.

Other performances of note from the weekend saw a beautifully humbling showing from Momoko Gill, who after a series of impressive collaborations has an ever-growing popularity as a solo artist. Marysia Osu and her harp offered a serene moment of peace on the new Ground Tempo stage on Saturday, whilst Joshua Idehen brought the site to life and perfectly communicated the inner consciousness of the festival in his bouncing spoken word set on Sunday morning. The ultimate showstopper, however, was Saturday’s headliner Peven Everett. A truly generational voice and artist, the Chicago-born star dazzled and, much like the festival itself, traversed genres with ease. From funk to soul to gospel, it could have gone on all night and no one would have left. 

Departing the site, you feel nothing less than fulfilled. Music has filled your heart and soul, and the collective appreciation for the art form by those around you — both young and old — is deeply reassuring. 

We Out Here is a festival built from the lineup down, rather than the ground up. A highly admirable and ambitious feat, especially when compared against the UK’s increasingly commercial offerings, which appear to exist solely to sell tickets and make a profit. It’s a stance that cultivates an audience who genuinely care about what they are watching and listening to. However, their attendance should not be taken for granted, nor should their audio obsessiveness be mistaken for short-sightedness. The shared love for the musical experience encourages a generous amount of spontaneous discussion amongst crowds, but on multiple occasions the focus sadly landed on the perhaps lacking infrastructure, rather than the exemplary musical offering.

It is simply not good enough to have only one working water point installed in the campsite when thousands of patrons are turning up at the end of one of the hottest summers on record. Countless bemused attendees were walking around with empty buckets and containers on that first afternoon, all with the same question — “where are the taps?” Whilst many more were installed by midday on Friday, they were constantly running dry, despite the best efforts of an attentive campsite team. Toilets were vastly improved on last year, with the cleaning crew thankfully not abandoning their duties mid-festival this time around. Though there were still many overflowing urinals that caused bogs that could only have been a health hazard throughout the site, and without sunny weather the problem would no doubt have been worse. Showers, whilst not everyone’s immediate concern at a festival, were also at a premium. Sanitary infrastructure should be ground zero for any event, and having recently visited Down The Rabbit Hole in the Netherlands where every toilet featured flushing water, expectations have been raised. 

Something that felt oddly amiss this year was the sound quality across multiple stages, which was a particular highlight last time around. Treble often went missing on the Main Stage, whereas the opposite was true for The Bowl which lacked its usual bassy punch. Lush Life simply needed another set of outer repeaters, as without standing dead centre you were left competing with the Lemon Lounge. Rhythm Corner, however, benefited hugely by locking off its sound in the hay bale amphitheatre. The Roller Disco always sounded crisp, and the team down at the Beat Hotel had it locked in. Having witnessed how excellent the whole site was previously, we have no doubt this will be ironed out in the already-announced 2027 edition. 

Night-time programming is a challenge for any festival once you lose the pull of the main stages, but more often than not it felt that acts after dark were in the wrong place this year — venues simply too small to deal with their demand. The distinctive garage-charged beats of Wookie bled out of Tomorrow’s Big Top, but with a crowd as big outside as in, this felt like a missed opportunity to give a solid UK producer his flowers. Brawnswood was much the same for Brighter Days founder Izco, whereas the cavernous Rhythm Corner — which has capacity to host the biggest names (see Sunday’s special guest Four Tet) — often felt half-empty. Sometimes it’s just the way of things and tastes of the crowd, but morning discussions were too often about missing out rather than celebrating a killer late night set. Something to consider next time around. 

As a returner, you’re looking to see what’s different, what’s improved, what’s removed. Overall it was a tighter and better-functioning setup. The already mentioned stage additions were welcome; the site felt better put together and more cohesive; the few slender walkways felt better managed and never overcrowded. A captive audience, faultless curation and ever-growing reputation mean this festival will continue to sell out and no doubt flourish. Do not sleep on your chance for tickets. Whilst still only in its seventh edition, there’s a real opportunity for Peterson’s party to be a guiding light in how UK festivals should be run. All of this is to say: We Out Here, we see you, we love you, but we want more. We know you can do it and we can’t wait to see what’s to come. 

Dates for the 2027 edition are already confirmed for 19th – 22nd August, with returning festivalgoers able to secure tickets on Thursday 27th August at 10am, with early-bird going on sale on Tuesday 8th September at 10am — with sign up available on the We Out Here website.