The Tobacco Factory

A modern cafe-bar with regular live music.


The Tobacco Factory is a large independent space centred around a modern theatre in Southville. While the theatre and studios are the Tobacco Factory's main focus, considering a Headfirst is a music listings website I will focus on its role as a music venue which predominantly occurs in the Tobacco Factory's Cafe-Bar.

Sunday evenings at the Tobacco Factory offer regular free live music and provide one of the only places to catch the cream of local Bristol jazz and folk musicians on the south side of the river.

The cafe-bar itself is vast, boasting an impressive stage, large bar and lots of seating. Despite its large size and modern industrial fittings, The Tobacco Factory manages to feel warm and welcoming with cozy sofas and clever lighting.

While the free live music nights can attract a crowd, don't expect to find a rowdy dance floor and stacked-up tables! There's an additional bar upstairs for theatre goers preventing the cafe-bar from being mobbed during the intervals.

What's On At The Tobacco Factory

Rave On for the Avon | screening + Q&A at The Tobacco Factory
— The Tobacco Factory
uk funky drum and bass film
Jazz in the Loft - Liane Carroll at The Tobacco Factory
— The Tobacco Factory
blues jazz new orleans jazz soul
Masterclass with Liane Carroll at The Tobacco Factory
— The Tobacco Factory
bebop bossa nova jazz hard bop swing
The People's Comedy: Tobacco Factory garden Tent & Terrace at The Tobacco Factory
— The Tobacco Factory
comedy stand-up comedy

Get a feel for The Tobacco Factory

Our recent recommendations for The Tobacco Factory

Sell out warning! Save our Avon! Vital grassroots doc focusing on a core group of activists, from the Avon Bride (!) to wild swimming mermaids, vowing to clean up the iconic river that’s fed our city for thousands of years. Rave On for the Avon | screening + Q&A at The Tobacco Factory.

Superlative post-bop from Gen X’s bright young thing, Joe’s on a stunning trajectory from Ronnie Scott’s to Jools Holland to accompanying Wynton Marsalis! And it’s easy to see why…..Webb’s uncanny sense of Ellington’s swing and Monk’s voicing gets filtered through the youthful flair of his 00s Welsh roots. One of the most compelling and masterful instrumentalists around at the moment. Bristol Jazz Festival presents Bristol Jazz Workshop w/ Joe Webb Trio in “The Loft” @ Tobacco Factory Theatre