Cotham Club Bristol
Community Through Music | Great Global Sounds

COTHAM CLUB: A BRILLIANT, ECLECTIC, MONTHLY LIVE GLOBAL MUSIC CLUB WITH A PASSION FOR COMMUNITY AT ITS CORE.


Music, with all its subtlety and spirit, has immense power to unite people. It is the universal language of mankind. The sounds of Africa, America, Eurasia and Oceania have always found a home in Bristol, and there are few better examples of the city's cultural cross-pollination than Cotham Club, a celebration in sound of what unites rather than divides. Each month we showcase some of the most diverse and brilliant musicians from Bristol and beyond, linking audiences to great music and to each other.

'Community-focused gigs welcoming an array of global musicians and gig-goers of all ages, genders, neurotypes and ethnicities.' Bristol 24/7


epic gigs (+) grassroots vibes (+) warmest crowds (in) brilliant space (w/) unique atmosphere (+) intimate feel (=) great night out


The 2026 season dives into the world of sound unbound with a brilliant and eclectic programme of joyous musical experiences.

January:
On Friday, 30 January 2026, the Eastern Strings Tango/Klezmer Quintet performs dazzling and distinctive folk dance, its exceptional musicians journeying through the ravishing rhythms of Argentinian/Uruguayan tango, Eastern European Jewish klezmer, and Middle Eastern neo-traditional.

February:
In February, dance your blues away as Kirris Riviere & The Delta Du Bruit's scorching and soulful electric Louisiana blues fires up the crowd (Fr 27 Feb 2026): powerful music that packs an emotional punch.

March:
The Rob Lear Band performs a glorious set of catchy, country-tinged Cymru-folk-Americana with a punchy pop drive; it's strikingly hooky, lyrically arresting, and achingly lovely (Fr 27 Mar 2026).

April:
Compelling poet/performer/polymath Edson Burton, backed by a cracking band, combines bold and brilliant blues, funk, soul and Afro-fusion into a supremely classy, life-affirming live show with good times in its sights (Edson Burton/The Private Joys, Fr 24 Apr 2026).

May:
Al Swainger's Pointless Beauty Quartet (Fr 29 May 2026) is a live powerhouse of spacey, head-bobbing, cinematic jazz/electronica. Pure instrumental sorcery: a gorgeously unique fusion of jazz, electronic and ambient music, from immersive trance soundscapes to storming dancefloor groovers.

June:
The Zaid Hilal Band (Fr 26 Jun 2026) plays spellbinding Palestinian folk-pop-beyond: powerfully imaginative music with a message, marked by emotive balladry and wild and passionate dancefloor anthems, shot through with flavours from the Middle East.

July:
Soaring from the hypnotic and ethereal to the propulsive and joyful, this captivating West African/Welsh fusion music is a unique meld of cultures: exquisite Gambian griot kora songs and enchanting Cymru-folk (Bunja Conteh & AfroWelsh Connection, Fr 17 Jul 2026).

August:
No Cotham Club.

September:
Forget your troubles and skank to the joyous reggae fusion of the Bristol Reggae Orchestra (Fr 25 Sep 2026). Electrifying music draws on reggae, ska, jazz and classical: supremely cool, utterly irresistible, and catchy as hell. Good-time sounds from start to finish, infused with Jamaican spirit.

October:
The Livvy Hylton-Smith Band (Fr 30 Oct 2026) performs a big, bold showcase of brilliant retro-soul, jazz, R&B and classic pop. A stunning singer and formidable band walk a line between intimacy and grandeur, delivering knockout interpretations of iconic songs and modern originals.

November:
Gorgeous Turkish/Kurdish songs and soundworlds from the Özcan Ateş Ensemble (Fr 27 Nov 2026). This is rich, distinctive, and heartfelt music: precision-played Anatolian folk and fusion, switching from delicate and mournful to powerful and intense.

December:
Captivating, eclectic and full of heart, this is sound without borders (Dovetail Orchestra, Fr 18 Dec 2026) - a musical celebration of cross-cultural kinship by an exhilarating ensemble of refugees and asylum-seekers.


Whether you're new to the Cotham Club or have been coming here from its beginning, thank you for your support and for helping us share Bristol's exciting cultural heartbeat with so many people.
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