Free city-wide events in June and July

Councillor Craig Cheney, smiling, looking towards the camera.
Today’s guest blog is from Councillor Craig Cheney, Deputy Mayor for Finance, Governance, Performance, and Culture.

All events through the City Centre and High Streets Culture and Events Programme are free and open to all, so everyone can visit, explore and have fun in Bristol over the summer.

St Nick’s Night Market returns for its second iteration on 2 June from 5:30pm to 10pm. You can expect an amazing line up of traders, entertainment and performers, and multicultural food and drink from local producers and suppliers.

Don’t miss your chance to see Weekends of Wonder on 3 and 4 June. Invisible Circus are renowned for their imaginative and creative performances and this line-up of street artists and performers does not disappoint!

Included in the Festival of Nature’s 20th anniversary, the Walking Forest will travel across the city centre on Saturday 17 June. Pop-up performances will take place in Broadmead, Old City, and King Street, with a chance to join in with free family activities and hands-on forestry crafts.

Join Bristol Cathedral on Sunday 18 June for Party on the Green. Bring a picnic and join communities from across Bristol for a day of live music, food and family friendly activities provided by some of Bristol’s best, including the SS Great Britain, Young Bristol and We The Curious.

A circus performer is pictured standing on a ladder in front of a crowd.

Bristol’s Summer Film Takeover celebrates unique aspects of Bristol’s culture and identity through film, and marks a number of major milestones including 50 years of hip hop’s influence on Bristol’s culture, the 75th anniversary of Windrush, and 100 years of 16mm film. The first events in June include:

  • Windrush 75: Stories Through Film, a specially curated programme of films screening on board the Vintage Mobile Cinema Bus in Broadmead from 22 to 24 June.
  • A Wall is a Screen: Secrets of the Old City on 30 June. Join a guided evening walking tour exploring hidden architectural gems in Bristol’s Old City and enjoy a selection of short films projected onto nearby buildings along the way. 

Led by performers and comedians from Bristol Improv Theatre, two squabbling tour guides will take you on the Bristol Comedy History Walk, a hilarious guided tour through Old City and Broadmead, to reveal some of Bristol’s most humorous and surprising secrets.

St Nick’s Market is hosting local musicians from the Bristol Institute of Music Management (BIMM) in its Summer of Busking series on 24 June, 29 July and 26 August, from 12pm to 3pm. Musicians will perform acoustic sessions at the market for people to enjoy as they shop and dine al fresco.

A busker is pictured playing the guitar in St Nicks market.

Running from 15 to 17 July, the Circus Playground will be on College Green at this year’s Bristol Harbour festival. Cirque Bijou will once again be bringing tricks and trapeze, children’s entertainment and pop-up performances to delight the crowds.

Ockham’s razor will be taking over Broadmead on 29 July with two showings of their new outdoor performance PUBLIC. These events mark the return of this internationally renowned company to the Bristol with a show that reimagines public space as a space for creativity.

Markets continue to take place on our priority high streets, including:

St Nicks Market is pictured, with big crowds of people walking through the market.

People from Stockwood are invited to join Brave Bold Drama on 10 June in Stockwood Square for the final session to help create the Stockwood Sounds Audio Trail, a playful new community audio trail celebrating all things Stockwood.

Events running on Stapleton Road celebrate the diversity, communities, cultures and flavours of the area. Around The World in BS5 is an immersive walking tour running every Sunday in June giving people the chance to explore the high street, sample the foods and enjoy music, dance and other performances along the way.

Welcome to Stapleton Road events take place on Saturday 24 June and Thursday 27 July. Opening out onto the street, businesses will showcase what they do with special offers, tasters and displays. There will be music, children’s activities, face painting, arts and crafts.

The Friends of Horfield Library (FoHL) are planning events on Filton Avenue including a Growers and Makers Market on 10 June and on 15 July a summer fete ‘Celebrating Filton Avenue’ which will be a family friendly day with a samba band, local performers, craft activities and facepainting.

People are pictured. walking through St Nicks night market, With food stalls either side.

St George Community Association will run their Summer Fair at St George Community Centre on 18 June from 1pm to 4pm with fun activities for children, face painting, music and have plenty of stalls to browse from local traders.

With this diverse and packed programme of events running throughout the summer we continue to help support Bristol’s businesses and the recovery of the culture and events sector and hope to build on the successes of last year’s events, where we attracted over 75,000 additional visitors to the city centre and generated almost £1.4 million of additional spend in Bristol’s businesses, all from an investment of £310,000.

The City Centre and High Streets Recovery and Renewal programme is funded by Bristol City Council and the West of England’s Combined Authority’s Love our High Streets project.