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

Woi oiiii jungle techno royalty Top Buzz dazzle you that ‘93 darkcore throb featuring the unmistakable ragga chat of MC Mad P. Plus bonafide breakbeat ‘ardkore Dreamscape hero DJ Ratty will be lighting the candles on Twisted’s birthday cake. 3am finish for the dedicated ravers, smiles all round. Dj Twisted Birthday bash!!

Plunderphonic acid, bruised breaks and chill out room revelations are on the menu from Bellyache, making their biggest statement yet with a rare AF appearance from Psychick Warriors Ov Gaia’s Robert Heynen. A true titan of tribal tech, joined by LNR’s goa trance explorations and a whole 2nd room of deep club/not-club excavations. Plastikman, KLF and Coil devotees come get spiritualized. 2 rooms of immersive, psychedelic dance music ft. Eat Static (DJ Set- replacing eXquisite CORpse) LNR, Mackenzie, Angelkin, fig and AKA.Zato. Psychedelic house / techno / trance & experimental

Another deep clurb rumbler down at Stokes Croft’s humble DIY art abode. Prepare for killer psych-dub meditations, lush breakbeat, lunar ambient techno and sublime shape-shifting rhythms — powered by the MEGA Bristol via Cardiff custom Sain Audio sound system for maximum immersion. Cirrina Sessions are bringing their debut party to KIT FORM with residents Casino Flats, DJ Vetiver and DJ Yulian.

Gary is an alien! He landed in the Hague’s 80s italo scene and is keeping clubkind under control with Martian-endorsed acidic stompers, oddball komische transmissions and an ancestral knowledge of freak electro-funk happenings. Lupini may also not be human, if her dub-wise new beat and sludge-wise dancehall stylings are anything to go by…. There is a cosmic hole and we want to be in it.

What our editors say

“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

“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

“Forming after realising a shared passion for broken rhythms and a desire to express feelings of discontent through rave music, Bristol-based duo Disaffected are quickly establishing a formidable reputation for their high-energy, emotionally charged DJ”
From: Bop Thru with Disaffected

“Room Two hosted by dance-punk upstarts Bellyache- dealing out a dose of acid house and rave utlitarianism on the Murmur Soundsystem. Room Three will be the chillout room, hosted by everyone’s favourite cyber sorceress and meme admin Zeobat.”
From: PTS 12 ϟ Iglooghost, AKA Hex, gyrofield