Bristol Rave Events

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Bristol's Rave Scene

Bristol has long been the South West's rave mecca with bus loads of ravers coming to hardcore nights from lesser endowed cities like Bournemouth and Bath since the nineties. At the heart of Bristol's hardcore and old skool scene has always been Lakota, the only venue (until recently) large enough for huge, multi-room raves. The venue's industrial warehouse feel and non-central location also made it popular with Bristol's free party crews who's multi-rig 'linkups' (most notably the Gener8r parties) have also made Bristol a national attraction for oldskool, mash-up and breakcore nights.

The Black Swan in Easton is Bristol's other key rave venue, attracting promoters like Mongrel (formerly at the Croft), Tiki and Avalaf. Keep an eye on Lab's listings for occasional Wrong Music events and even check Whats on at Bristol's Motion for the odd large rave event like Battlegrounds.

Bristol Rave in the time of Covid
Bristol is easily the rave capital of the west, it’s clear from just the name of Rave on Avon - a multi-day multi-venue rave event where the streets of Bristol open themselves to fans of the whole spectrum of rave: drum n bass, hardcore, trance, techno house. Bristol never descriminates! But the only raves hitting the news recently was an illegal rave - the first of its kind in Bristol to receive a £10,000. Obviously no-one would condone raving in Bristol at this time, no matter how much we want it. The question on everyone’s lips is: what will raves look like after covid? Facemasks on entry? Dwindling crowds checking track and trace apps on their phones. Let’s hope Bristol can get its rave on, in the way remember, as soon as possible.

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Our recent rave recommendations

Sell out warning! Fantastical creatures stalk the six immersive worlds of Ashton Court Mansion as 2025’s power wanes. Festival-sized pageantry awaits adventurous souls: goblin kings and burlesque queens, dnb pyrotechnics and walloping speedbass, live dub delights and feisty folk. If only the rest of the year was this damn magical… Experience an unforgettable New Year's Eve with live music, immersive environments, and magical performances. an unforgettable New Year's Eve with live music, immersive environments, and magical performances.

Riddim Roots returns to the Crown with an absolute stomper to warm your cockles! Expect wall-shaking beats and bass including Mousai’s hefty jungletek, a big nod to 90s rave classics from Anna Prank, plus pumping trance + hard house from Selection Soundsystem. MULTI GENRE RINSE OUT, FAT SOUNDSYSTEM, BIG STOMP

Step into the day-dreamer techno and breakbeat continuum. Bristol’s notorious party starters Stretch Collective join forces with psych-dub innovators Cirrina Sessions for a night of deep, hypnotic minimalism, with residents out in full force. A hot tip for fans of Vlada, CCL, Roza Terenzi, Christian AB and Beatrice M. Stretch and Cirrina residents bring their signature hypnotic styles to the Island, accompanied by local live electro duo Young Saucy Lovers

Reformed breakcore punk Vincent Van Sloth emerges as twisted junglist warrior Alzoc III for the ever-reliable Reactor 4. We expect, no, we DEMAND the usual peaks of unabashed amen worship, jungle techno futurism and breakbeat hardcore ruffage in this £5 Friday night no-brainer FFO: Equinox, FFF, Bizzy B, Tim Reaper, Samurai Breaks. Summer's over and it's officially jungle season. Reactor 4 is back in the session, kicking off our club series with some debut DJs and B2B linkups. Expect unreleased business all night from your selectors.

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What our editors say

“CELINE DIJON - Party starter and founder of Get On Festival, Celine Dijon brings high-energy, genre-spanning bangers to the dance floor. With a wicked Voices Radio show under his belt, expect acid house, disco, and everything in between.”
From: Blue Marbles

“Spice Ranger brings a variety of harder styles from 160-200bpm. Expect tek, drum and bass, hardstyle and donk remixes of 2000's pop tune bangers. Make sure you're ready to stomp your feet and sing along!”
From: Stoopid Events #001: For the Love of Donk

“Intimate venue, legendary DJs, large-scale production This night will be a full on musical education. Five DJs back-to-back all night long, armed with records from across the spectrum of 90's rave music!”
From: Elysium : Louise Plus One B2B Hughesee B2B Interlude - All Night Long

“Bit by the music bug at a tender age, South Londoner Jumpin Jack Frost hit the DJ circuit at 18, mixing funk, hip hop and original breakbeats and diving into the acid house circuit via the Carwash nights in the late 80s DJ’s were Grooverider, Bryan gee, Fabio, Frost and Pete Stewart. When the rave scene exploded Frost was at its forefront, enjoying the freedom of going with the flow and mixing drastically different styles of music to suit the mood of the moment.”
From: Dry Jan Rave | Jumpin' Jack Frost | Bristol Sober Spaces x Trinity

“Expect a healthy mixture of vinyl and digital, anthems and white-labels, and all the genre's you've come to expect from these nights. Starting off with acid house and oldskool rave, then breakbeat hardcore and jungle techno, and finally into hard house, happy hardcore, and maybe even some free tekno.”
From: Safe As F*ck: DJ Doubt b2b DJ Them