End of the Road 2021 review – phones firmly in pockets at life-affirming festival

Larmer Tree Gardens, Blandford, Dorset
From Little Simz to Richard Dawson, the indie stalwart’s 15th anniversary social gathering offered a joyous slice of summer time in a troublesome yr

This yr’s summer time seems to have passed with solely a glimpse of sun and celebration. As Covid squeezed the standard British pageant season into just a few months, each large-scale gathering that has made it by way of the pink tape and fixed danger looks like an sudden present. Winding your means via the verdant Wiltshire hills into the homely tenting website for unbiased stalwart End of the Street, it particularly looks like you've found an unearthed treasure.

Celebrating its (delayed) 15th anniversary, the charmingly sedate and spacious weekender boasts a sometimes numerous lineup. Taking to the primary stage on a sunny Friday afternoon is 15-piece west African percussion ensemble Balimaya Project. Bandleader Yahael Camara Onono guides his group of kora gamers and atumpan drummers into a polyrhythmic frenzy of Mandé people compositions, difficult the rapt viewers to attempt to sustain with their virtuosic sense of groove.