Our line-up of free events across Bristol continues throughout the summer

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 and Labour Councillor for Hillfields ward.

In the 15 months since it launched, 45 projects with 116 free event days have been delivered or are currently underway through our City Centre and High Streets Culture and Events Programme. Our updated evaluation of 17 completed projects shows that we have attracted over 120,000 extra visitors to the city, generated £1.91 million of additional spend in Bristol’s businesses, and supported 240 paid jobs in culture and events, all from an investment of £384,000.

Events continue throughout the summer. All events are free and fully accessible so everyone can visit, explore and enjoy what Bristol has to offer.

Presented by Bristol UNESCO City of Film and partners, Bristol’s Summer Film Takeover celebrates Bristol’s culture and identity through different screen experiences. The programme 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.

Mayor Marvin Rees, is pictured in the centre of the image talking to two other people. The Vintage Mobile Cinema Bus is pictured behind. On either side there are people walking next to shops.

The line-up of events has something for everyone, including a guided evening walking tour to explore the architecture of Bristol’s Old City with short films projected onto nearby buildings, bicycle powered cinema showing back-to-back cult classics, and Summer of Soul – a celebration of the music, artists and culture that sprang from 60s Harlem – will be screened in the Galleries’ basement car park. Free workshops are also available, including Aardman workshops at Sparks Bristol and workshops in splicing, dicing, and projecting your own 16mm film.

The popular Bristol Comedy History Walk continues throughout July and August. Improvisers and comedians from Bristol Improv Theatre will take you on a guided tour through Old City and Broadmead sharing lesser-known Bristolian stories and revealing some of Bristol’s most humorous and surprising secrets.

The Young Bristol Bus will be on Brislington Hill/Bristol Hill from 6pm to 8pm on 3, 17, and 31 July and 14 August offering 8 to 19 year olds a free, safe space with trained youth workers to take part in printing, stencils, video, painting, and mural making with professional artists.

An actor from the Invisible Circus is pictured, wearing a full butterfly outfit with orange and purple colouring, In the background there are trees and people sat on benches.

Forming part of Bristol Harbour Festival, the Circus Playground is on College Green from 15 to 17 July. Cirque Bijou will once again perform and delight the crowd with tricks and trapeze, children’s entertainment and pop-up performances.

On 15 July Celebrating Filton Avenue will bring the high street to life with a family friendly day including a samba band, local performers, craft activities and facepainting.

Following the creative sessions over the last couple of months, the Stockwood Sounds Audio Trail will launch at a free community event in Stockwood Square on Saturday 22 July, transforming your experience of walking around Stockwood into a celebration of local people’s creativity.

Welcome to Stapleton Road celebrates the businesses, communities and cultures of Stapleton Road. This month’s A World of Peace, the final event in the series, takes place at the Easton Christian Family Centre on Thursday 27 July from 11am to 4pm.

Ockham’s razor, one of the UK’s leading circus companies, takes over Broadmead on 29 July with two showings of their new outdoor performance PUBLIC. Ten young performers will incorporate acrobatics, parkour and dance as they move through the architecture of the streets and make the city’s architecture their playground, in a show that reimagines public space as a space for creativity.

Musicians from the Bristol Institute of Music Management (BIMM) will perform at St Nick’s Market Summer of Busking events on 29 July and 26 August, from 12pm to 3pm. Visitors to the market will be able to enjoy the acoustic music as they browse through the stalls and dine al fresco. Busking on 26 August will form part of the up-coming Old City Sounds, a family-friendly music event that will take over Bristol’s Old City.

A group are pictured looking at a tour guide, at Bristol Improv's Bristol Comedy History Walk. In the background a building with street art can be seen.

Knowle West Fest 23 is a community, family friendly festival in the heart of Knowle West on Saturday 5 August. This year’s event is bigger and better than ever with a colourful street parade starting at 11am, followed by music, workshops, activities, food and market stalls. On 26 July you can help spruce up the area and paint the ‘Filwood’ letters ready for the celebrations.

St George Community Centre will run Toddlefest on 20 August from 1pm to 4pm. The festival style event will include family fun and activities from We The Curious, face painting, music and dance.

Bristol Photo Festival are working with Historic England to provide creative photographic workshops, documents, exhibitions and interventions in our priority high streets in August and early September. Picturing Bristol aims to help animate the high streets and encourage Bristol’s citizens to explore and celebrate the places they live, making connections to each other and adding to a sense of belonging and identity.

[12:38, 28/06/2023] George: trees and people sat on benches. [12:40, 28/06/2023] George: Two people in the centre of the image are seen, smiling and performing to a group inside a building. To their left a person, sat down, is pictured laughing. In the foreground two people are seen sat on a chair hugging.

Our markets remain popular and continue throughout the summer: