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

For the initiated, only Willikens will do. The Salon GOAT gets real deep with a rare-opening set, stretching minimal synth slayers and acidic chug to psychedelic breaking point before Saskia fires up the subwise hardware explorations and Anina & Lynne absoultely wipe the floor with junglist domination. Secret Shade, we salute you. The Secret Shade: Lena Willikens, Lynne b2b Anina, Saskia at Strange Brew.

Sell out warning! Absolute go-hard-or-go-home belter for Zone 1 and Bris-Tek’s big birthday bash! Storming The Boxing Gym: Barcelona tekno firecracker Amygdala, bassline boss Jenny Sparks and donk sommelier DJ Bax touching down in Bris + Grandma Wubplate’s hard-dance swag and jungle euphoria from Betsy Mae. And that’s not even half of it…. ZONE 1 x BRIS-TEK / AMYGDALA, DJ BAX, JENNY SPARKS, VANDAL at The Boxing Gym.

Sleek club futurism with two spinners packing serious sub pressure and off-kilter rhythms! Ehua brings her percussive bass workouts alongside LWS’s ice-cold UK techno rollers, twisting dance machinery into stranger shapes for devotees of Timedance, Fever AM, TraTraTrax and Pressure Dome. Forma: Ehua, LWS, Dom Carlo, severine at The Island.

Sell out warning! Following 5 years of sold out parties and what we thought would be their biggest event ever, Brown Excellence are taking over The Boxing Gym with this truly mahooosive celebration of South Asian culture. 4 rooms fusing live ragas, sitar club heat, percussive dek bass, Bollywood disco, food stalls and much more - ain't nothing else like it! Brown Excellence 5th Birthday Festival at The Boxing Gym.

More Photos of Bristol Rave Events

What our editors say

“With an image of looking like a crusty chav punk love child lost down a trippy rabbit hole, this unique soundsystem collective crew will continue to further the evolution of rave music and events and cannot be missed.”
From: New age Collective Crusty Raver tour

“FLY FOX is a Bristol DJ, founder of Femmes on Decks and radio host known for her eclectic, groove-led sets. Drawing on 90s rave, acid house and techno, Detroit grooves, Chicago disco and soul, she blends sounds from around the world into playful, energetic journeys.A regular on local radios such as Noods Radio, SWU.FM and Crate Digs, she’s also played festivals including Glastonbury, We Out Here, Shambala and Shindig.”
From: FEMMES ON DECK ft. Fly Fox & Katie Novo

“Grace Wolfe hails from west wales and is part of the Wob Mob crew and Soundsystem. Grace’s music is a fusion of bassline, happy hardcore and jungle tekno, with the majority of the set being her own productions!”
From: Tunnel Vision

“Rounding out the Japanese roster is Merupo, a multi-talented selector from 140-200bpm, who will this time be treating us to a mostly happy hardcore set, infusing japanese influces to the genre's UK rave roots.”
From: SAVAGE STATES + Support

“DJ Them: Resident DJ and Safe As F*ck founder, Theo will be kicking off the night with a two hour odyssey through the genesis of UK rave. From acid house to breakbeat hardcore and beyond, expect no stone left unturned, and some surprises at the end!”
From: 3 YEARS OF SAFE AS F*CK