Darbar Festival: bringing the depth, discipline and sheer emotional power of Indian classical music to the widest possible audience

Performers at Darbar Festival, Barbican Centre

A major UK celebration of Indian classical music, Darbar Festival returns to the Barbican Centre from 28 October to 1 November, bringing together some of the world’s most revered Hindustani and Carnatic musicians. The five-day programme takes place across Barbican Hall and Milton Court featuring concerts, talks, wellbeing sessions and family-friendly events. This year the festival’s theme, The Shock of the New, spotlights artists who have never before performed at the festival, and the festival will feature Darbar’s first-ever late-night concert.

Performers include sarod duo, Amaan Ali Bangash and Ayaan Ali Bangash, vocalist, Sandeep Narayan, and sitar maestro, Ustad Irshad Khan alongside Pandit Prasad Khaparde, along with rising stars and genre-crossing collaborations, including Jasdeep Singh Degun with Sukhvinder Singh Pinky, a rare dhrupad performance from Ustad Wasifuddin Dagar, and new pairings such as Debanjan Bhattacharjee with Spoorthi Rao, and Sunanda Sharma with tabla soloist, Ustad Shahbaz Hussain. Midnight Ragas, will feature a late-night concert from violinist, Kala Ramnath, and veena player, Jayanthi Kumaresh.

 Beyond the concert stage the Festival aims to make Indian classical music accessible to new audiences with an Indian Classical Music Appreciation Course for newcomers, artist talks including A Voice Without Borders with Sandeep Narayan and The Benaras Gharana with Sunanda Sharma, and a screening of the documentary India’s Vanishing Voice. 

And beyond music, there is also a dedicated Yoga and Wellbeing strand featuring live-music yoga sessions, raga meditation and breathwork classes.

Sandeep Virdee speaking to the crowd in Barbican Hall at Darbar Festival (Photo: Rehmat Rayatt)

The festival’s artistic director, Sandeep Virdee says, “Darbar Festival exists to bring the depth, discipline and sheer emotional power of Indian classical music to the widest possible audience,” says Sandeep Virdee, artistic director of Darbar, “This year, under the banner of ‘The Shock of the New’, we’re introducing UK audiences to extraordinary artists they will never have heard perform before, and pushing the festival itself into new territory with our first-ever midnight concert. It’s a programme that reflects both the tradition’s rich heritage and its constantly evolving present, with performances that will resonate with lifelong connoisseurs and first-time listeners alike.“

Born in Nakuru, Kenya, Sandeep Virdee grew up to the sounds of his teacher and father, Bhai Gurmit Singh Virdee playing the tabla. The family moved to London in 1975 where hearing his first Indian classical concert ignited Sandeep Virdee’s passion for Indian classical music. In 2005, his father passed on and Sandeep Virdee organised a tribute concert to celebrate his father’s passion for Indian classical music. This became the Darbar Festival which in 2026 marks its 21st year,  having grown from a local Leicester gathering into what is widely described as the largest festival of Indian classical music outside India. Alongside the festival, Darbar runs a music education project teaching 8–11-year-olds in Leicester schools, the same city where his father taught tabla as a peripatetic teacher for 22 years. 

Darbar Festival – Barbican Centre

Further information from the festival website.