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.

Buy tickets for rave events in Bristol

Our recent rave recommendations

Cirrina Sessions return to clubland with their oozing dub-techno metamorphosis, drifting somewhere between aquatic bass and meditative experimentation. Buckle in for Beatrice M’s wonderfully slick, immersive 140bpm bassweight, Mackenzie’s late-nite industrial-tinged techno freakouts, all primed by an opening Casino Flats & Fez the Kid b2b of downtempo hypnotics. Traipse the fault lines of techno, dubstep and breaks: Cirrina Sessions bring Beatrice M and Mackenzie alongside residents Fez the Kid and Casino Flats to Loco Klub.

Free entry! Demand more thrash, grind and death from your Thursday nights! Black City plants the Bristol Metal Quarter flagpole south of the river, marking the Dame as the new spot for the battle-jacket hordes in need of a late night headbang. Beats practicing your windmills in front of the mirror at home… Old School Thrash & Death Metal Club Night

Shredding in the rave? Hell yea! Psytrance troubadour Le Bard comes to town to unleash a mind-melting fusion of hardcore acid and guitar serenades for his UK debut. Joined by hard-dance legend Mollie Rush and a stacked billing of rave rotters, this triple-threat link-up of crews is starting the year with full go-hard-or-go-home party power. Long overdue Sin Records, Hooney Tunes and Beaten Track finally link up at the notorious Loco Klub tunnels. Powered by Visceral Soundsystem and Quantum Audio

Breakbeat fiends assemble: Jurassic Audio and Under The Sea present this BS4 whopper for a proper post-Betwixmas rinse-out. In the mix: Duality’s heavyweight jungle slammers, Borai and Don’t Forget To Go Home serving up hard-house heat and Ratlin pushing turbo-charged 170+ mind-benders. Strap in! Jurassic Audio & Under the Sea Sounds Presents: Down The Works

More Photos of Bristol Rave Events

What our editors say

“The latest edition of 2 Bad Mice & Friends lands in Bristol and this time they invite some of the the scenes finest beat technicians for the ride!!! A multi genre night exploring Everything Rave - from acid house to old skool to jungle, DnB, and more!!!!!”
From: 2 Bad Mice & Friends

“Alongside Grooverider as early acid house and breakbeat purveyors playing the biggest raves of the late eighties, to Rage at Heaven introducing Goldie and DJ Storm to these sounds, to Speed with LTJ Bukem, to Swerve - the influential Liquid focused weekly at 'The End’, to discovering and bringing Calibre to the world, to Friday nights on Radio 1 for fourteen years, touring the world with Grooverider alongside The Outlook Orchestra, to being the person to coin the term ‘Liquid’...”
From: Slippin’ - FABIO - 90min set + Deselecta, Rhi’N’B & Chamba B2B Nathan Worm

“Curated by local DJs Janus and Lomare, this day is all about inclusive, welcoming vibes and top-tier dance music. Expect a genre-spanning journey designed to bring people together on the dancefloor. - Event Details Join us at The Cider Box on Friday 27th February, from 19:00 to 03:00 - 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

“CAPTAIN CHAOS - happy hardcore galore One third of the Wronguns Crew, and a fifth of the Full Power Party Crew, Captain Chaos is leading our ship of villains into the flamboyant waters of Happy Hardcore making stops on bubble washed shores and lands of fun and frivolity. With high octane bouncy tunes, he will be rocking the boat with a dancefloor of stomping feet and bringing chaos to the crew!”
From: DEADLY NIGHTS

“SPICE RANGER: 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