The 2021 Darbar Festival, held from 16 to 24 October at London’s Barbican Centre, celebrated a return to live performances with a world-class lineup of Indian classical musicians. The concert programme opened with sarod player Ken Zuckerman accompanied by Surdarshan Chana (tabla), violinist JyotThe 2021 Darbar Festival, held from 16 to 24 October at London’s Barbican Centre, celebrated a return to live performances with a world-class lineup of Indian classical musicians. The concert programme opened with sarod player Ken Zuckerman accompanied by Surdarshan Chana (tabla), violinist Jyotsna Srikanth, Sanju Sahai (tabla), and RN Prakash (ghatam). Subsequent evenings featured sitarist Roopa Panesar with Shahbaz Hussain (tabla), and percussionist Sukhvinder Singh with Milind Kulkarni (harmonium). The festival’s vocal highlights included Hindustani maestro Ustad Waseem Ahmed Khan with Gurdain Rayatt (tabla) and Milind Kulkarni, as well as a concluding performance by Kaushiki Chakraborty. The finale also showcased sitarist Pandit Kushal Das, with Sukhvinder Singh providing accompaniment. Beyond the stage, the 2021 edition integrated digital and educational components, featuring livestreamed talks and courses by Alam Khan, TM Krishna, and Sandeep Narayan, as well as well-being sessions led by Kanwal Ahluwalia and Davel Patel.