The Island

The Island

Forward-thinking arts and club venue in central Bristol.


While Bristol promoters have been using the underground space on Bridewell street for a few years now, it's only since 2015 that The Old Police Cells became an official venue. Like the rest of The Island, the basement venue is keen to continue to support an eclectic variety of arts and new emerging artists. As the trading subsidiary that funds and supports vital activities of Artspace Lifespace, a Community Interest Company (CIC) that recycles and repurposes underused and vacant buildings, it's great to see an independent Bristol venue so dedicated to supporting the local arts scene in the threatening face of city developments.

The Island excels as a club venue, touting an industrial yet intimate feel found nowhere else. Having found favour with promoters like Room237 and TimeDance, the cell space has proven its worth amongst techno promoters - however, dance music represents just a fraction of the venue's programme. Experimental, noise and sound art musicians take advantage of The Island's unusual acoustics while performance artists have split the space into multiple micro venues.

Photograph credits: Sidz Photography, Khris Cowley for Here & Now

What's On At The Island

Play and Paint at The Island
— The Island
world contemporary classical experimental workshops & classes life drawing
Rrose + Rat Section + i-sha + Birthmark +++ at The Island
— The Island
techno breakbeat dub experimental drone
Murmur x Get On Festival Launch Party w/ Fold at The Island
— The Island
house uk garage techno electro jungle
STRAPPED at The Island
— The Island
drag theatre
GLASSHOUSE Pres. DOCTOR JEEP at The Island
— The Island
techno electro breakbeat jungle 140

Get a feel for The Island

Our recent recommendations for The Island

Public Affair’s impeccable taste in sub-heavy antics continues with Dublin’s Woozy heroine EMA, packing deadly 140 hybrids in a b2b madness with Surusinghe’s gritty hard-drum futurism. One for the genre-agnostics who wanna get weird to dembow, IDM, trance, baile and amapiano in a big dancefloor blender. Not one to miss - A b2b set from two trailblazing DJs alongside some solid support

A no-prisoners showdown of flawless clubwise stimulation from the yung Murmur crew's 2nd clubnight! LCY (fka L U C Y)’s mutant bass bangers meets Lee Gamble’s ballistic trap / broken grime / industrial delights in the depths of the Island’s prison cells. We kick off 2024 with a huge line up at The Island

An essential new night for Bristol’s bass heads! Tapping into the eclectic and experimental parameters of dance music, Laya/Tala brings a heavyweight crew of local faves ALYA L, Jurango and Medis for its debut Bristol outing along with sets from Laya/Tala co-parents Mossambi and Vinda. If you like to get weird and wonky in the club, this one’s for you. Genre-bending music from diverse lineups

Phonk gremlins unite! Canada’s nuked out dance party / traphouse of horrors ruptures a Memphis-sized hole in the Island with DJ Smokey’s army of codeine demonz and sizzurp trills. 101% turnt FFO: DJ Screw, Three Six Mafia, Spaceghostpurrp, SOUDIERE, DEVILISH TRIO. All Centre & 3SR take to The Island with DJ Smokey, K means, DJ Pitch, Simkin, Fig & Iz.wav

Descend to the Island for more rave stabs than the Ultimate Rave Stab Collection™ and looser breakbeats than a warped Jericho. It can only be Denham Audio, battling for your dancing feet with Refugee Worldwide’s electro braindance queen Sagan + more. Everything but broken