The Island
Former police station turned creative playground
The Island is a vibrant multi-use venue in the heart of Bristol city centre. Once occupied by Bridewell Police Station, it’s been in the hands of community arts charity Artspace Lifespace since 2008.
Home to over 100 resident artists, The Island boasts a diverse mix of spaces and facilities including dance and circus training studios, a sewing room and an art gallery, while doubling up as a thriving events venue – covering live music, workshops and classes, immersive performance art, and more.
After dark the Edwardian cells come alive with experimental club nights, recent highlights including Timedance’s forward-thinking techno and bass nights, jungle, soul and Afrobeats from Nightspace, and late-night sessions from leftfield festival En Masse.
The 300-capacity venue is at basement level and is not wheelchair accessible. Free tickets are available for personal assistants. See https://artspace.uk/venue/the-island/ for details of the different event spaces within the building.
Home to over 100 resident artists, The Island boasts a diverse mix of spaces and facilities including dance and circus training studios, a sewing room and an art gallery, while doubling up as a thriving events venue – covering live music, workshops and classes, immersive performance art, and more.
After dark the Edwardian cells come alive with experimental club nights, recent highlights including Timedance’s forward-thinking techno and bass nights, jungle, soul and Afrobeats from Nightspace, and late-night sessions from leftfield festival En Masse.
The 300-capacity venue is at basement level and is not wheelchair accessible. Free tickets are available for personal assistants. See https://artspace.uk/venue/the-island/ for details of the different event spaces within the building.
What's On At The Island
— The Island
workshops & classes
theatre
sport & exercise
— The Island
electronic
experimental
techno
footwork
lgbtq+
— The Island
dub
dubstep
electro
techno
festival
— The Island
workshops & classes
theatre
sport & exercise
— The Island
experimental
workshops & classes
exhibition-opening
exhibition
— The Island
dubstep
electro
experimental
techno
tech house
— The Island
electronic
experimental
techno
noise
Get a feel for The Island
Our recent recommendations for The Island
The subsonic-powered En Masse machine must be kept clanking through the night! Channelling the energy: the ever-versatile Om Unit conjuring acid dub cyber-gear by way of bleeding-edge bass-and-breaks + Severine jacking in with dystopian half-time and corroded IDM. The final club scientist in the triptych remains veiled until proceedings begin...
En Masse 2026: After Party w/ severine, Special Guest , Om Unit at The Island.
Ok ok ok ok. DJ Marcelle is punk in her own odd way: bonkers turntablism ft. wonky dubstep, percussive scraps, tractor sounds, goat noises and a whole lotta distortion. She arrives in timely fashion for Ceramic boiz Copper Sounds’ new release party with mega support from Sarahsson and k means’ ultra-spun-out club excursions. Deranged club fulfillment … cripes!
DJ Marcelle, Copper Sounds, k means, Sarahsson at The Island.
Sell out warning! Still reeling from his 3 hour devastation of Strange Brew, Cirrina invites a titanic pillar of 21st century junglism to ditch his amen stripes and school us on cutting edge techno / 140 mutations. This is a new kinda Reaper, rocking the The Island with AM's dubby conquerer i-sha + Casino Flats & Fez the Kid's opening downtempo hypnotics.
Cirrina brings Tim Reaper along for his debut techno & 140 set alongside i-sha's thunderous rhythms and Fez the Kid b2b Casino Flats' opening hypnotics.
Free entry! Unmissable posthumous survey of the painted legacy of Bristol figurative trailblazer Frances Conway-Seymour; Quiet Interiors is a perspective-shifting dive into her large-scale explorations of 20th century political radicalism and the nuclear family across a 4 day run at the Island.
The social & political visions of Frances Conway Seymour 1931-2010
Sybil opens an Island wormhole to the deepest realms of techno, trance, breakbeat, ambient and deep froggy proggy. in a truly mind-bending club catharsis from one of the best in the game. A total no brainer if you dig: Konduku, Kia, Vlada, DJ Nobu.
Umbilical Chords, Waft Anon and Escalator To Nowhere return to the Wormhole with Sybil, Plantera and Stefan Brown for a night of deep, psychedelic and hypnotic sounds moving between light, dark and everything in between