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

Free entry! Neo-pagan mutli-genre mayhem on a Tuesday? Totally worth it just to hear Two Toke shelling the basement with dark techstep, half-step snare science and outrageous junglist ruffage. Fans of Instra:mental, Exit Recs, UVB-76, Rupture, Sully etc etc should at least poke their heads down… Free entry Jungle, 140, UKG, DNB + more!

Free entry! A top-tier, no-nonsense night of old school and new school jungle and possibly some heavyweight DnB pressure, breakbeats and hardcore sprinkled in for good measure. Some of Bristol’s core selectors in attendance FFO: Roni Size, Peverelist, Clarity, Mantra, DJ Flight. Free entry Jungle, Hardcore + DNB!

Sell out warning! The return of the unbeatable sub-heavy power trio! Massive Attack’s Daddy G and OG vinyl heads Mr Benn and Queen Bee come to rock you gently with lovers, dancehall, rare groove (and not-so-gently with a dash of junglism). One for the heads who remember! Good music + good people = good times.

Woiiii oiiiiii!!!! Safe As F*ck return with impeccable piano-laced breakbeat hardcore euphoria from Miltant Music’s Aerbreak, who’s just launched the rave LP of the decade FFO: Prodigy, Altern8, Dreamscape, Nookie. He’s backed by Anna Prank and DJ Them slinging only the smiliest slices of hard house, warehouse acid and ruffneck junglism. Massive! Pure 90s rave vibes

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What our editors say

“Expect an all-night, improvised journey through textural ambience, acid house workouts and peak time techno, unfolding where the historic pub's maritime legacy meets Bristol's cutting-edge electronic underground.”
From: All Night Long: Thomas Ridley

“Crustacean maestros Ab Crab will send you spinning into a turbulent current of powerful euphoria. Hard, fast, relentless and genre-fluid, Ab Crab guides you on a swim through the seven seas of hyperpop, happy hardcore, jungle, nightcore, metal, trance and gabber. They are the music you love, but more. The duo’s last three sold-out shows in Bristol speak for themselves: they are more than a B2B; they are unstoppable evolution.”
From: TEMPLE CLOUD w/ qwerty-uiop B2B Dosage & dj osu

“Gary Spacepope is a UK underground legend with a knack for turning dance floors into intergalactic joyrides. Since the 80’s he’s been slinging psychedelic techno, acid house, and weirdo beats. A cosmic chef dishing out sonic goulash.”
From: Insieme Festival 2025

“Reactor 4 make their return to the Crown, following a sold out event in January, bringing another night of slamming old skool rave music.”
From: Reactor 4 - Jungle, Hardcore, Rave

“Realist Alive doubles up on the debuting London wunderkinds + genre-bending locals formula to set Portland Square off with 5 hours of tunes ranging from glitched-out experimentalism to overpowering hardstyle.”
From: Realist A: Synapsefirer, DJ 3t13 & more