Looking for Bristol events, exhibitions and festivals to attend this year? We’ve got it covered with this regularly updated guide. Keep checking back for the latest details.
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Bristol Old Vic
One of our favourite theatres has lots of exciting shows taking place in 2024. They include:
29 Feb – 30 March: Starter for Ten (read our ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review here)
14 – 16 March: Work in Progress Week
25 – 30 March: It’s a Motherf**king Pleasure
3 – 6 April: No More Mr Nice Guy
7 – 5 May: The Glass Menagerie
29 July – 3 August: King Arthur
6 – 21 September: Wonder Boy (read our ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review of Wonder Boy when it was performed at Bristol Old Vic in 2022)
See all the shows and events at Bristol Old Vic in 2024 here.
St George’s Bristol
The spectacular concert hall in a 200-year-old converted Georgian church has lots of brilliant events throughout the year. They include:
21 March: Alice Roberts: Crypt
23 March: Bristol Concert Orchestra
10 April: TUNA Choir
14 April: Bristol Poetry Grand Slam Final
5 May: Lady Nade, Heather Ferrier Trio & Chris Fox
5 June: Handel by Candlelight
7 June: Courtney Pine’s 60th Birthday Party
30 September: David Olusoga
9 October: The Drifters
See all the events at St George’s Bristol in 2024 here.
1 – 9 June: Festival of Nature
The UK’s biggest free nature festival returns to Bristol and Bath this June and it’s jam-packed with more than 70 events and activities. Highlights include:
- Wild Weekend on Bristol’s Harbourside on Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 June, bringing two days of family-friendly nature activities, exhibitor stalls, wildlife film screenings, talks and performances and special guest appearances.
- The chance to have an enchanting marine encounter with real life mermaid Hannahai Pearl, take a ‘shellfie’ with her and learn more about how to help our oceans on 1 June.
- CBeebies superstar Andy Day and his interactive family show Dino Raps on 2 June, with a special meet and greet after the show.
- A series of talks and screenings in the former IMAX theatre at Bristol Aquarium, including Nadeem Perera’s family-friendly show I like birds, do you like birds?; Lira Valencia exploring the hidden corners of the cities to find the secret world of city wildlife, and renowned insect expert George McGavin taking audiences into the world of minibeasts.
- Greening up Bath’s grand high street, Milsom Street, on 8 June, with an exciting day of free family-friendly nature stalls, special guest talks and shows, drop-in interactive activities, storytelling, crafts and more.
- The chance to strut the mini red carpet, grab some popcorn and experience what may be the world’s smallest wildlife film festival, taking place on 8 June on Milsom Street inside a tiny 1940s-style caravan cinema powered by renewable energy and featuring four short films from the BBC’s Our Planet Earth.
- The final day on 9 June is the festival’s first Community Day, celebrating the actions being taken by communities all across the two cities and beyond. A map of activities and locations will be available for people to get out and explore new community groups, gardens and goings-on.
Find full details about Festival of Nature here.
22 – 29 June: Bristol Sounds
Bristol Sounds returns to the Bristol Amphitheatre on Bristol Harbourside from Saturday 22 June to Sunday 30 June. It includes three all-day events on Saturday 22, Sunday 23 and Sunday 30 June.
The headline acts are Skindred (22 June), Gentlemen’s Dub Club & The Skints (23 June), James Arthur (26 June), Busted (27 June), Placebo (28 June), Annie Mac – Before Midnight (29 June) and The Breeders (30 June).
The full line-up of acts is here and you can buy tickets here.
9 – 11 August: Bristol International Balloon Fiesta
The legendary Bristol International Balloon Fiesta returns this summer to to the rolling hills of Ashton Court. As Europe’s largest annual meeting of hot air balloons, the event is the city’s most valuable outdoor event. It generated £22.2m for Bristol’s economy in 2023, £14.7m of which was new expenditure in the city that would not have occurred without the event taking place.
But like the rest of the economy, poor weather, the COVID-19 pandemic, rising cost of living, inflation, and challenges in the supply chain have added to the event’s financial pressures. To reduce operational costs, the 2024 event will take place over three days, instead of four days as in previous years.
The fiesta will still include two Night Glow events, when the balloons light up in time to music, on the Friday and Saturday evenings.
There is also an extension of the event with ‘Fiesta Week’ from 5 – 8 August when hot air balloons will pop up in local communities across the city in a series of local launches.
In addition, the fiesta will host the long-standing British National Hot Air Balloon Championships. Balloonist teams will fly twice daily on 6-11 August. They will be set challenges including dropping markers into the arena during the fiesta on 9-11 August.
For full details, visit the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta website.
Bristol Beacon
Bristol Beacon has reopened after a £132m five year transformation. Events taking place in 2024 include:
16 March: Bristol Choral Society: Verdi Requiem
21 March: Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
24 March: Gipsy Kings featuring Nicolas Reyes
4 April: Barenaked Ladies, plus Callum Beattie
6 April: The Longest Johns, plus Colm R. McGuinness
22 May: Julian Clary
8 July: Gladys Knight: The Farewell Tour
3 September: Tim Peake: Astronauts – The Quest to Explore Space
BBC Proms at Bristol Beacon
The world-renowned BBC Proms will be staged at Bristol Beacon over the August bank holiday weekend. It will be the south west’s first ever host of full-scale orchestral concerts as part of the classical music extravaganza.
The following four concerts will take place:
- The Virtuous Circle (24 August): Paraorchestra recast the traditional orchestral concert as an immersive experience, performing Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 from memory and on the move. Audiences are invited into the heart of the action to observe the perfect symbiosis of an orchestra, exploring the idea of the orchestra as the perfect embodiment of teamwork. Interspersed with new music from Ivor Novello Award-winner Oliver Vibrans, this world premiere is co-directed by Charles Hazlewood and Kyla Goodey with choreography by Tom Jackson Greaves.
- BBC Singers at 100 (25 August) Celebrating 100 years since its formation, the BBC Singers performs a selection of a cappella masterpieces including Tavener’s Song for Athene and Britten’s A Shepherd’s Carol, led by Chief Conductor Sofi Jeannin.
- Evelyn Glennie plays Jennifer Higdon (25 August): Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and its chief conductor Kirill Karabits perform Tchaikovsky’s heart-on-sleeve Symphony No. 5, alongside Jennifer Higdon’s flamboyant Percussion Concerto with soloist Evelyn Glennie.
- CBeebies Prom: Ocean Adventure (26 August): Kwamé Ryan, the Southbank Sinfonia and Andy Day come together for a fun-filled CBeebies musical ocean adventure for all the family.
The concerts open for booking on Saturday 18 May.