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Folk Nights & Acoustic Music in Bristol

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Bristol's Folk & Acoustic Scene

Like jazz, folk is an extremely broad genre. From Joan Baez and Joanna Newsom to Bon Iver and the Fleet Foxes to Sheelanegig and Beirut, the folk field is vast. Fortunately when it comes to catering for such a broad spectrum of live music, Bristol excels.

Was folk & acoustic born in the West Country?

With local venues like Bristol Folk House and Bristol University Folk society, folk and acoustic music has a strong foothold in Bristol. The romantic images of a farmer chewing grass sitting on a hay bale is a West Country classic, English folk music has always thrived in the countryside. While Bristol isn’t as rural as its surroundings, music people have always flocked to Bristol from the surrounding areas, bringing the folk sound with them. So while folk music wasn’t born in the west country, it sure does have a home in Bristol.

Folk venues in Bristol
For off-centre Twee and Anti-Folk, be sure to check out what's on at the Louisiana and check the Lost Horizon listings. Cafe Kino and The Arts House both on Stokes Croft also host occasional anti-folk bands and solo musicians.

For less lo-fi and more straight up folk, key venues include: Lost Horizon, The Lansdown in Clifton, The South Bank Centre and The Folk House.

For more feisty folk bands keep an eye on gigs at The Attic and check out our gypsy jazz listings.

The folk big-guns and pop-crossover 'stars' like Noah and The Whale, Seth Lakeman and Mumford and Sons will be found at the biggest Bristol Venues (Colston Hall, o2 Academy and St George's Hall). For these gigs, arrive early as big folk events (at St Georges Hall in particular) can come packaged with some great (and potentially better) support artists.

Buy tickets for folk & acoustic events in Bristol

Our recent folk & acoustic recommendations

Sell out warning! On-U Sound’s AHC return to Bristol for a full-throttle blowout at Trinity, delivering thunderous dub rhythms, bonkers polyrhythmic percussion and soaring melodic chants - all riddled with post-punk attitude and dizzying psychedelic catharsis. AFRICAN HEAD CHARGE PLUS GUESTS at The Trinity Centre.

The triumphant ascension of post-folk post-rockers Quade was inevitable. Their second slab of wax for uber tastemakers AD 93 (Coby Sey, Moin etc) conjures a sacred soundworld akin to Slint playing a Deadwood funeral, or Talk Talk’s long lost Warren Ellis collab. They’re perfectly paired with Jasmine Wood’s post-classical reverb dreams for an evening of pastoral longing and sullen beauty. Quade + Jasmine Wood at Strange Brew.

Canadian-Serbian singer-songwriter Dana Gavanski accompanies her arresting and delicate voice with piano in classically ethereal art-pop tunes. Berlin based Slipper collage a heady harmonic mix of psychedelia and DIY-wrapped harmony pop, while Pictureframes’ songs evoke serene dreamlike folk lullabies FFO: Cate Le Bon, Yo La Tengo, early Sharon Van Etten, The Beta Band. Dana Gavanski, Slipper, Pictureframes at The Cube.

Immerse yourself in Bristol’s experimental and no-wave underground! Live sets from Archie TTwheam and Foot Foot’s Esther Polloc lead into a screening of in’sive, a new film capturing the scene’s major figures and bands. Stick around afterwards as musicians from the film take the stage for an improvised set. Film & improv at The Cube.

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What our editors say

“Bringing a new splash of spirit to old time genres, four-piece band Moonshine Malarkey raise the roof with raucous drinking songs and tell lyrical tales of monkeys, mermaids and moonshine. Expect a signature blend of footstompin’ country, swing, folk, calypso and boozy blues, with fiery violin solos, high energy drums and smooth lead vocals joined by soulful harmonies.”
From: Moonshine Malarkey

“In the late 1960s he was a regular performer at the legendary Bristol Troubadour and founder of the Folk Blues Bristol & West club. He was heavily influenced by old country blues players before taking a left-swerve in the early ’70s with a trio of songwriter/ guitarist albums for the pioneering and now highly collectable Clifton-based independent label Village Thing.”
From: Ian A. Anderson & Friends

“Old Mervs are riding at the peak of a surf-rock renaissance in Western Australia, having sold out a string of huge rooms in 2021 and winning fans across the country with their no-nonsense songwriting and country-lad charm.”
From: Old Mervs + Special Guests

“Joining them in support are Scotland’s, Pupil Slicer, whose mathcore assault has become a staple on bills up and down the country following the release of their albums, ‘Mirrors’ (2021) and ‘Blossom’ (2023).”
From: LLNN

“The six-piece collective scooped “Best Live Act” at the 2025 MidiTV Music Awards and have been tipped by many as “one of the best emerging live bands in the country”. So put your hands up, surrender, and get those dancing shoes on.”
From: Land Of The Giants