Once the carnival has started it becomes a lot harder to work out which
sound systems are where! Stages and sound systems are scattered
throughout the streets of St Pauls. Closer to the time this page will
include a Google map with each scheduled stage. These include the
infamous PA systems and speaker stacks which the evening part of St
Pauls Carnival is known for.
Our editor's top live music recommendation
After blowing the lid off of
Strange Brew last year, Stormy J returns with her highly infectious signature blend of soca, percussive house and groove-filled Trinidad Carnival flavours. Expect killer excavations of UK funky, amapiano & dembow - BIG.
Ruffnek Diskotek at Cosies.
The unstoppable occupation of Ashton Court rolls on with heavy lovers dub from crucial operators Two Step Forward. Featuring Martin Melody’s silky vocals gracing the mic alongside Ras Addis, Sisters in Dub’s Danniella Dee serving the impeccable roots selection + much more. Community Jam Collective hold down room two with everything from Anatolian psych to crooning country to cosmic disco oddities. Big!
"GOOD MANORS" / LOVIN' THE MANOR CJC & TSF at Ashton Court.
Armed with decades of organising experience, activist-authors Jane Holgate and John Page join
Bookhaus to light a fire in the bellies of a new generation of agitators: ‘Changemakers’ is collective action 101, blending theory and practice to equip communities with power-building, injustice-battling know-how.
Changemakers Radical Strategies for Social Movement Organising with Jane Holgate and John Page
The Cowfolk continue an incredible run of PWYC stereotype-busting presentations aimed at dispelling imperialist myths and misrepresentations of global peoples. This edition focuses on the Kurdish women's freedom movement, with a feature length doc focusing on their guerilla conflicts against Iraqi and Turkish forces. An utterly essential education and solidarity evening for all!
We will be screening Zaynê Akyol's brilliant 'Gulîstan, Land of Roses' (2016),
Sell out warning! Fiery reggaeton riddims, low-slung afrobeats and non-stop clurb festive mayhem; get ready to dust off those winter cobwebs for a pre NYE workout with Winter Whine. Yusef Suave and J Rus, butt-2-butt all night long!
TICKETS AVAIL OTD - another round of xmas mayhem and misbehaviour with the best carnival selectors this side of the Atlantic. Dancehall // Soca // Ragga // RnB // Afrobeat // UK Funky // UK Garage // Carnival Anthems.
Stage organisers can use this page to announce set times for the djs and
mcs for the music stages and sound systems at Bristol’s
2025 carnival. While the main stages focus on Caribbean
music, it’s foolish to consider St Pauls carnival as predominantly dub
and reggae event. Programmed by sound system owners and local promoters,
the lineups for the stages each bring different musical styles and
artists to the 2025 event. From established drum & bass and
dubstep djs to the cutting edge electronica and house producers that
Bristol is becoming known for, St Pauls carnival by night is a
celebration of Bristol’s diverse music scene.
When the sound systems switch off around midnight, the party moves
indoors with almost every venue in Bristol boasting some form of St
Pauls carnival after party. After parties range from big club events in
venues like Lakota, Basement 45, The Black Swan and Blue Mountain, to
free-entry all-nighters in the pubs and bars around St Pauls and Stokes
Croft. The event listings below outline all of the free and paid after
parties for this years carnival.
“Founder of Booty Bass, and one of the most exciting musical voices to come out of Bristol, NGAIO has been part of the city's music scene for decades as a raver, vocalist, performer and DJ. Blending genres that have influenced her musical journey you'll hear afrobeats, afrohouse, percussive and Tribal music reflecting her Nigerian ancestry. Latin, reggaeton, moombahton and carnival sounds from her time in South America and naughties edits, dubstep, Grime and Drum & Bass as a long term lover of rave with some jazzy elements and extra bassy bits chucked in for extra flair.”
From:
Bristol Women's Voice IWD After Party
“Stormy J is a true original. She terms her sound "Jab House", a highly energetic and emotive fusion of house, electronic rave, jab-jab and gutter soca music. Jab-house is driven by unapologetic extreme freedom, carnival and festival culture. Making waves in London clubs including Ministry of Sound and Queen of Hoxton, while holding down a weekly show on Select Radio, we are deeply honoured to be bringing Stormy to the Ruffnek dance. *Check out her jab-house mix (youtube link above), seriously this sound is FRESH!”
From:
Ruffnek Diskotek
“Did you know that March marks the peak of carnival season around the world? While carnival isn’t widely celebrated in the UK, it’s a vibrant tradition in many cultures—a time of creativity, celebration, and storytelling. From the elaborate masks of Venice to the spirited parades of Brazil and the Caribbean, carnival is a space where art, music, and community come together to honor heritage and imagination.”
From:
CARNIVAL✦ MASK MAKING WORKSHOP ✦ Tales Of Becoming
“Strange things happen in dreams, but stranger things can happen in waking life, and Jaz Delorean has never shied away from baring his tattered soul to anyone willing to listen. He’ll pull at your heartstrings, and get you dancing to the rhythms of his fingers and forgetting your own worries for a time, before skulking off into the blackness behind the neon carnival lights again. Some things aren’t meant to be kept.”
From:
JAZ DELOREAN
“Tickets:
watershed.co.uk/whatson/12942/cartoon-carnival" target="_blank" >https://www.watershed.co.uk/whatson/12942/cartoon-carnival”
From:
Cartoon Carnival + Q&A