Brighton Dome Corn Exchange, 25 May 2025
After the luminous grace of Anoushka Shankar’s Chapter III: We Return to Light, Brighton Festival 2025 didn’t wind down — it lifted off.
Co-curated by Shankar and Shiva Soundsystem (a collective, record label and event host based in East London) founder Nerm, the Official Closing Party transformed the Brighton Dome Corn Exchange into a riot of rhythm, movement, and kaleidoscopic visuals. From 9:30pm to the early hours on the bank holiday weekend, it pulsed with a dazzling lineup of South Asian and global underground talent, reflecting the festival’s bold embrace of innovation and cultural fusion.
The crowd — a vibrant, multicultural mix of ages, backgrounds, and styles — mirrored the genre-defying music and the global spirit of the night. There was a shared sense of joy and freedom in the space, as people danced shoulder to shoulder beneath waves of light and sound.
Photo credit – Nicola Benge
Highlights included an exclusive back-to-back set from jungle pioneer Mantra and genre-mashing loop virtuoso Manara, tearing up the dancefloor with bass-heavy precision. OX7GEN arrived fresh from his Boiler Room debut to deliver a futuristic, beat-driven set, while Berlin-based Perera Elsewhere sent the crowd into a hypnotic trance with her genre-defying sonic palette.
Long-time Anokha resident and Brighton’s own Equal-i brought things full circle with a nod to the roots of the Asian Underground. Meanwhile, aminabonthebeat — multi-hyphenate artist, DJ and cultural provocateur — electrified the room with a deliciously unpredictable mix of Acid-Arab, Desi beats, Amapiano, Techno, and Tezeta.
Photo credit – Nicola Benge
This was an immersive, multi-sensory celebration. Indo-Italian motion graphics artists lit up the Corn Exchange with stunning projection mapping (the same group who’ve worked with Wu-Tang Clan and The Chemical Brothers), while Kathak dancer Vidya Patel and her troupe faced off with Bollyillusion in a theatrical, joyfully subversive performance duel.
Eclectic and full of energy, the closing party was a fitting end to this year’s Festival — a celebration of South Asian and global underground music scenes that brought people together in shared rhythm and joy. It may not have redefined the concept of a festival finale, but it certainly offered a fresh and vibrant take on what such an event can look and feel like — inclusive, contemporary, and alive with cultural exchange.
