Bristol's Festival Scene

Bristol festivals draw huge crowds year on year - from commercially run events like Tokyo World Festival in Eastville park to free (and community minded) events like Trinity Garden Party and St. Paul's carnival. There are a string of multi-venue festivals (in the style of Sonar in Barcelona) around the Stokes Croft area including Simple Things and Rave on Avon. Simple Things has expanded somewhat in the last few years and taken over the city's flagship venue, Colston Hall.

As well as music festivals, Bristol's deep historical connection to street art is celebrated in day events like Upfest. Centred around the recently created (and unofficial) street art district - North Street - you can spend the day watching apartment blocks getting a new lick of paint from head to toe. Truly a festival not to be missed!

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Our recent festival recommendations

Free entry / PWYC screening of this heart-wrenching and often humorous portrait of Palestinian life in Lebanon’s Ein el-Helweh refugee camp. In Mahdi’s video diary, the World Cup sits next to PLO training, and family home movies mix with armed teenage hijinks and war-torn destruction. A World Not Ours is raw dispossession seen through generations of martyrs, exiles and those forced to remain in a land not theirs. A World Not Ours at The Island.

Fresh Spike Island co-commission bringing Commaret’s non-linear short cinema experiments to the UK for the very first time. Mijitas offers two poetic yet political views of women navigating the gendered realities of cleaning and sex work, melding dashes of magical realism with improvised documentary intimacy in Commaret’s own inimitable style. Catch it until 6th September. EXHIBITION Tohé Commaret: Mijitas at Spike Island.

Puppets for the people, by the people: after a two-day workshop guided by Beanpig Puppets’ unsteady hands, a new array of freshly hatched chaos creations will be turning the Cube boards into a one-off surrealist wonderland of DIY puppet performance. Guaranteed to be beautifully batshit… Nessun Dorma eat your heart out! The People's Puppet Opera at The Cube.

A night of radical reflection at Bristol Folk House, discussing Helen Moore’s collection of ecopoetry with poet, journalist and activist Ambrose Musiyiwa. The Last Lighthouse in Rising Seas moves through environmental grief, collapsing systems and collective action, its urgency and pathos balanced with joy and hope. The Last Lighthouse in Rising Seas, Forced Migration and Poetry at Bristol Folk House.

What our editors say

“| GETTING TO THE FESTIVAL | The festival takes place on a beautiful farm outside of Abergavenny, Wales. 1hrs drive from Bristol. Full address and travel details will be sent to ticket holders closer to the festival.”
From: Come Bye 2026