Returning for its third year, Down Stokes is a four-day independent festival running from 16–19 October 2025 in the heart of Stokes Croft.
Curated by Velvet Echoes, Extra Terrestrial & (for Kino's stage) Sunglasses After Dark, the festival celebrates the fiercely creative spirit of the area with a handpicked lineup of favourite artists.
- ROTHMANS - www.therothmans.bandcamp.com
Refusing to fall into post-something genre cliches, New Zealand born Rothmans have built an avid following through their exhilarating, break-neck live performances.
Combining elements of 90s noise rock and DIY hardcore with an injection of aggravated, techno-based rhythms, Rothmans remain a firm staple of Bristol's thriving underground scene.
- SAN VITO RYDER - www.sanvitoryder.bandcamp.com
San Vito - The disenchanted slacker self-taught home recording out of boredom as an escape from everyday life. An escape that feels like lying on the beach and snacking while counting planes as they fly by. The melancholic hypnotic Dreampop tells stories of a failed career as a drummer, alienation of work life and shotgunning beers.
- PEACELILY - www.linktr.ee/peacelilyuk
Known for their chaotic and intense live performances, Asher and Neve, better known as the two-piece punk band Peacelily, blend hard-hitting riffs with politically charged lyrics culminating in a sound that has been described as ‘The bastard child of Sleaford Mods and Royal Blood’
- DEAD HORSE - www.deadhorsemerch.bandcamp.com
Down & dirty garage punk 3-piece from LDN. Dead Horse’s raucous overdriven guitars and throat straining vocals pull us along by the scruff of our necks with a flurry of dirty garage rock energy.
- GUZZLERS - www.linktr.ee/guzzlers_
Based in Bristol, and intent on bringing what has been dubbed “Fish Rock” from the seas of the South to the masses, Guzzlers are making waves in the local music scene and are keen to expand their horizons, and head for open water. Inspired by the likes of Tool, Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, and King Gizzard to name a few, Guzzlers’ blend of garage-psych, stoner/doom metal, and prog rock is complex, hard hitting and suprisingly danceable.
- KIBBO KIFT - www.theekibbokift.bandcamp.com
Gothic Shoegaze-folk 4-piece based in Bristol. Kibbo Kift shape an industrial yet tender soundscape, one that drifts in and out of focus, with prominent lyricism on confession, folklore, and relationships with God. Kibbo Kift maintains an atmosphere that is both infectious and deeply immersive.