What’s on in Bristol this Autumn

Bristol was bursting with energy this summer, and the momentum continues into this next season with yet more restaurant and hotel openings, new exhibitions and unique events, all with a distinctive Bristol twist that rings true to this city’s independent spirit and cool city vibe. Here’s a round-up of what’s new and what’s on in Bristol this Autumn. 

Openings: 

Image: KIBOU, Clifton.

KIBOU (October 2021) – The award-winning team at KIBOU restaurant in Cheltenham are opening a new Japanese kitchen and bar in Clifton village this October. With hand painted murals which visually depict Japanese street life, this restaurant is set to turn heads with its décor as much as its food. Expect signature sushi rolls, bao buns, ramen, exotic cocktails and equally exotic interiors. 

Coppa Club – recently opened in summer, Coppa Club Clifton is the seventh Coppa Club in the UK and has the sophisticated interiors to match the on-trend menu. Open throughout the day, serving brunch through to evening a la carte food, it’s an effortlessly cool addition to this elegant part of Bristol. 

Planet Ice Skating rink (tbc, Autumn 2021). Set to be the UK’s largest ice skating rink with capacity to seat 1300 spectators and kitted out with international standard skating facilities, Planet Ice is located near Cribbs Causeway in North Bristol, close to other leading attractions such as Wild Place Project (sister attraction to Bristol Zoo Gardens), Aerospace Bristol (home to the last Concorde to fly) and The Wave (inland surfing lake, which opened in 2019). 

Artist Residence (tbc, Autumn 2021). Eclectic fusion of art and vintage chic, Artist Residence Bristol is in a former boot factory now fully restored with 23 stylish rooms, garden, events space, café and bar in the creative quarter of the city, Montpelier. Opening date expected this Autumn. 

Events:

Image: Marie Celest at Castle Park, Circus City. Credit: Joe Clarke Photography. 

Circus City (30 September –16 October). Circus City - the UK’s biggest festival of contemporary circus – will bounce back into Bristol this Autumn with a programme combining circus skills with music, film, theatre and dance and happening city-wide in indoor and outdoor venues, as well as online. 

Bristol Film Festival (October – December). Returning this year is the much-loved Bristol Film Festival with top titles screened in the most unique – and apt - spaces. Watch Donnie Darko in Redcliffe Caves, UP at Clifton Observatory, Jurassic Park at Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, AIRPLANE at Aerospace Bristol or Interstellar at The Planetarium, among many others. 

Black History Month (October). As part of Black History Month, visitors can take the Iconic Black Britons tour of the Seven Saints of St Pauls murals. This collection of street art pieces celebrates Black Bristolians whose activism has changed the city. Or join the conversation around how to represent Bristol's role in transatlantic slavery with a visit to the Colston Statue: What Next display at M Shed, where you can also learn more about the historic Bristol bus boycott. John Wesley’s New Room has a Black Lives Matter: Reading and Conversation online event on 7 October featuring poetry and hosted by poet, writer and historian, Dr Edson Burton. As part of Black History Month, Bristol Museums is also hosting a free, online talk on 21 October called Early Black Bristolians – evidence in the archives, which will uncover what’s been written (and hidden) about the lives of Black Bristolians from 16-19th centuries. A full list of events for Black History Month is available on Visit Bristol website. 

Exhibitions: 

Image: Pink Lady® Food Photographer of the Year, Veggies. Credit: Martin Grunewald

Project What If at We the Curious (new, permanent exhibit). The city’s interactive science museum reopened in May with a bold new exhibition uniquely inspired by questions from local people here in Bristol. Visitors are invited to play with 68 new exhibits and 25 art pieces clustered around seven questions on very different themes: rainbows, sand, universe, time, invisibility, illness and soul. Through these interactive and multi-sensory spaces, you’ll explore philosophical questions as well as experiential science. 

Vanguard I Bristol Street Art: The Evolution of a Global Movement at M Shed (now - 31 October). A must-see exhibition that celebrates Bristol’s pivotal role in the development of British street art over the last four decades. This ground-breaking exhibit includes works previously not seen, and some not shown in public for 20 years in the city’s M Shed Museum on the Harbourside. Expect works from Banksy, Henry Chalfant, Beezer and Bristol’s earliest street artist, Massive Attack’s Robert Del Naja. Booking essential. 

Bristol Photo Festival at Bristol Museum and Art Gallery (now until December). The new biennial Bristol Photo Festival encompasses a whole range of photography exhibitions and events throughout Autumn, showcasing work by both local and international artists across the city’s major visual arts institutions as well as independent and unconventional spaces. The festival has launched with exhibitions at Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, Martin Parr Foundation, Underfall Yard, The Royal Photographic Society and Royal Fort Gardens at the University of Bristol. 

Luke Jerram’s In Memoriam (1 - 17 October). After Luke Jerram’s hugely successful Museum of the Moon exhibit at Bristol Cathedral this summer which attracted 65,000 visitors and raised £13,000 for St Mungo’s charity, his new art installation, In Memoriam, is due in Bristol this Autumn. The artwork installation comprises 100 flags made from hospital bedsheets and is a temporary memorial for the public to visit and remember those lives lost during the COVID pandemic, as well as acting as a tribute to the NHS frontline workers.  

Pink Lady® Food Photographer of the Year at Royal Photographic Society (20 Nov – 12 Dec). This prestigious event used to be held in London, but this year moves outside of the capital for the first time to the Royal Photographic Society in Bristol. View photos and videos capturing stories and cultures in the world of food at the exhibition’s tenth anniversary, with over 20 categories making up one visual feast.  

Lucy Stein: Wet Room at Spike Island (25 Sept – 16 Jan). Inspired by womb-like Neolithic passages unique to West Cornwall, the first major UK solo show by artist Lucy Stein features a new series of coffin-scale paintings, deities carved from soap and a fully functioning, hand-painted wet room.  

Theatre: 

Grease at Bristol Hippodrome (21 – 25 September). Starring a fresh young cast – including a special guest appearance from Peter Andre – with all the hit songs, take a trip to Rydell High via this new version of Grease. It’s grittier and more glamorous than ever.  

The Great Gatsby at The Wardrobe Theatre (8 Sept – 2 Oct). Tucked behind Old Market Assembly restaurant and bar is the quirky and intimate space of The Wardrobe Theatre. This Autumn, The Wardrobe Ensemble and The Wardrobe Theatre have collaborated on this exciting new production based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel.  

Wuthering Heights at Bristol Old Vic (11 October – 6 November). This epic love story of tragedy, revenge and redemption is transformed into an intoxicating and uniquely theatrical experience at Bristol Old Vic this Autumn.  

If you would like to arrange a press trip, or if you want additional information or high res images, please email press@visitbristol.co.uk   

More information at www.visitbristol.co.uk 

This is an autumn highlights press release. Information on October half term and Halloween will be coming soon. 

Additional information:    

Famed for its passionate character, maritime history, and for the acres of parkland and sustainable approach that earned it European Green Capital 2015 status, Bristol has created its own distinctive identity. Visitors are attracted to the city’s year-round festivals, award-winning cycle tracks, gastronomy in rejuvenated shipping containers and behind secret doorways, stunning cityscapes, inspiring street art and lively music scene.