The Island

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.

What's On At The Island

Bristol Hoop School at The Island
— The Island
Sunshine School of Pro Wrestling: Fundamentals Class at The Island
— The Island
workshops & classes theatre sport & exercise
Wormhole: Sybil, Plantera & Stefan Brown at The Island
— The Island
progressive house trance techno
Chips or Chalk at The Island
— The Island
exhibition
Sunshine School of Pro Wrestling: Fundamentals Class at The Island
— The Island
workshops & classes theatre sport & exercise
Halloween Special Ballet to Not Necessarily Ballet Music Class at The Island
— The Island
goth pop workshops & classes family classical
Drawn Out & Distant Audio Presents: Truly Madly at The Island
— The Island
minimal tech house electro house uk garage tech house
Sunshine School of Pro Wrestling: Fundamentals Class at The Island
— The Island
workshops & classes theatre sport & exercise
Quiet interiors, Loud realities at The Island
— The Island
exhibition
Cirrina Sessions w/ Tim Reaper , i-sha & residents at The Island
— The Island
minimal techno experimental 140 techno noise
Sunshine School of Pro Wrestling: Fundamentals Class at The Island
— The Island
workshops & classes theatre sport & exercise
DJ Marcelle, Copper Sounds, k means, Sarahsson at The Island
— The Island
dub electronic experimental footwork lgbtq+
Sunshine School of Pro Wrestling: Fundamentals Class at The Island
— The Island
workshops & classes theatre sport & exercise
Forma x Nerve Collect: Identified Patient, Dual Monitor & severine at The Island
— The Island
drum and bass dubstep electro experimental techno
PLU Dance w/ Chloe at The Island
— The Island
electro house new wave post-punk lgbtq+
RTN w/ Luigi Tozzi at The Island
— The Island
minimal techno electro techno industrial techno
Regis featuring Liam Andrews + Support TBC at The Island
— The Island
electronic experimental techno noise
Dis Fig + Cold Light, HARRGA at The Island
— The Island
dub electronic experimental rap noise
It's Okay at The Island
— The Island
drone dubstep electronic experimental noise

Get a feel for The Island

Our recent recommendations for 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 shit outta The Island with AM's dubby conquerer i-sha + Casino Flats & Fez the Kid's opening downtempo hypnotics. Cirrina Sessions w/ Tim Reaper , i-sha & residents at The Island.

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. Wormhole: Sybil, Plantera & Stefan Brown at The Island.

Heavy b-funk ballistics raining down on the cells with an outrageous two-er of São Paulo club clank for the converted and soon-to-be-converted. Kontronatura unleashes break-neck dembow slammers and furious, groaning percussive machinery, while DJ Lorrany teeters along the scary/sexy axis with skuzzed, buzz-saw bruxaria and avant-ritmada choppage. Baile do Futuro x Baile Trama w/ Kontronatura, DJ Lorrany, Gus & Szal, JCVS at The Island.

PWYC entry! Yessss, it’s time for our monthly dose of Grama: Bristol heads serving up the best tunes in a proper community-style club night. October’s edition brings fka boursin’s deeper-than-deep house excursions, Rizla’s ominous techno and RS Tangent’s completely wonky tekno-dub-punk discombobulations. Long live Grama! Grassroots clubnight celebrating the abundance of local bristol talent

Longtime bringers of unadulterated queer joy, PLU enter a brave new era at the Island, decking it out to the nines for a proper wormhole session with the arch CPI / Discos Capablanca brain-frazzler. Dredging the depths of fried acid, darkwave disco and primal techno balearica, Hugo's a seasoned club psychonaut flying high with the likes of Vlad, Talabot, Tolouse Low Trax and Ron Morelli. PLU are back with a special "Loft" like more intimate dance