25 things to do in Bristol this week, April 22-28 2024

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Monday: Akua Naru, Bristol Beacon
Akua Naru’s latest feat ‘All About Love: New Visions’ is an album inspired by and an ode to Black feminist icon Bell Hooks and her titanic classic text of the same name. Known for her electrifying live shows, Naru has performed in more than fifty countries across five continents with her 6-piece band and collaborated with the likes of Tony Allen, Questlove, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Bernard Purdie and more. Her artistry is a testament to the legacy of soul music and the powerful, trailblazing Black woman artist tradition upon which it builds.

Akua Naru – photo: Bristol Beacon

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Throughout April: NYC on Film, Watershed
A whistle-stop cinematic tour of New York City throughout April presented by Festival of the Future City. Kicking off with Joseph von Sternberg’s The Docks of New York and the corrupt streets of 1950s noirs, through the visceral energy of the films of New York, New York and Do The Right Thing and more.

NYC on film – photo: Watershed

Monday: Helga Fanderl Films – Super 8 screening, The Laundrette
The German born filmmaker has garnered a reputation for creating beauty out of simple moments in life, using the incredibly nostalgic super 8 camera to turn the seemingly mundane into the deeply thought provoking.

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Monday-Sunday: The Last Show Before we Die, Bristol Old Vic
Welcome to the messiest break up you’ve ever been through: live. This Edinburgh smash hit is an existential cabaret about the big things in life. And Death. “Absolutely bonkers and deeply moving” (★★★★★ BroadwayWorld) don’t miss this five-star, “heady, gut-wrench of a show” (★★★★★ Guardian).

The Last Show Before we Die – photo: Bristol Old Vic

Tuesday: 5×15 stories, the Station
The Bristol Branch of the acclaimed event series will see five speakers speak for15 minutes each about tales of passion, obsession and adventure for curious minds. Featuring former mental health nurse and award-winning author Dr Nathan Filer, Naomi Delap, director of Birth Companions, author, mentor and academic, Dr Lily Dunn,  former Children’s Laureate of Wales and associate artist of the Riverfront in Newport, Connor Allen and singer, songwriter, DJ, community creator and inclusion and diversity consultant, Ngaio.

Tuesday: Reimagining Public Administration: The Creative Bureaucracy Day, Watershed
Introducing the idea of creative bureaucracy to Bristol, the conference explores the reimagining of the public bureaucratic sector that seems to be at the root of so many existential issues facing our country’s political system. The first conference of its kind in the UK, there will be a range of speakers and discussions from across Europe, in various sectors where more outside the box methods are being used.

Reimagining public administration – photo: Bristol Ideas

Wednesday: Music Masterclass: Kesh, Trinity Centre
Famed for his hedonistic parties spanning all sub-genres of world and bass music and combining them with old school promotion techniques and a sprinkle of madness, Kesh has created an almost cult-like (in a good way) appreciation of his parties AnExperience and Pangea. He gives a music promotion masterclass at Trinity Centre, free for those aged 16-25.

Music Masterclass w/ Kesh – photo: Trinity Centre

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Wednesday: The King of Reggae, Bristol Old Vic
Get ready to enjoy songs like One Love, No Woman No Cry and Is This Love all played live on stage by the incredible The King of Reggae Band, as we tell the story of the man who brought Reggae music to the world.

King of Reggae – photo: Bristol Old Vic

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Thursday: Tommy Tiernan: Tommedian, Bristol Beacon
Join Tommy Tiernan in his brand new show ‘tommedian’, a fun-fueled trip through the comic imagination of one of the best comedians in the world. This is a wild, uninhibited and fiercely physical display of stand up. A madcap parade of characters, memories and ridiculous flights of fancy. Theatrical, poetical and slightly unhinged…. Don’t you dare miss it! Boasting record-breaking ticket sales across the world, the legendary comedian is also known as the star of Channel 4’s hit show Derry Girls, Live at the Apollo and the host of his own highly critically praised improvised chat show on Ireland’s RTE 1.

Tommy Tiernan – photo: Bristol Beacon

Thursday-Sunday: Bristol New Music 2024, multiple venues
A celebration of contemporary forms of music in all its many shapes and sizes, Bristol New Music is a biennial festival taking place across the city in some of Bristol’s most preeminent venues. Showcasing an incredibly wide array of contemporary sounds, check this year’s programme for a taste of what’s to come.

Apartment House – photo: Bristol New Music

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Friday-April 29: City Nature Challenge, multiple locations
City Nature Challenge is an exciting collaborative mission to record as much wildlife as possible from 26 – 29 April, using the free iNaturalist app. Get involved in the Bristol effort as we come together to collect records of biodiversity across our area, alongside 500+ other cities around the globe!

City Nature Challenge – photo: Natural History Consortium

Friday: Bam Margera Q&A, Thekla
The skateboarder/prankster/member of the infamous Jackass crew has made a name for himself in the 21st century as a risk taker, a rule breaker, and more recently an advocate for sobriety. He’s touring the UK throughout April/May with one mission: to answer your questions.

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Saturday: Sustainable Pop-Up Market: April, Future Leap Gloucester Road
Our Sustainable Pop-Up Market is back for April, giving you the opportunity to shop from an array of indie sellers! Every market hosts a different selection of stallholders, and you can expect to find photography and art prints, eco-friendly beauty and hygiene products, greener household alternatives, ceramics, handsewn homewares and much, much more.

April Pop-Up Market – photo: Future Leap

Saturday: Cider Bingo!, The Cider Box
If you know you know when it comes to The Cider Box – fantastic local cider brewed minutes from Temple Meads, paired with a fantastic intimate events space – the likes of which will be full of cards, blotters and pints this weekend, as they put on one of their popular cider bingo nights – ticket price includes 2 bingo cards and a half pint of the good stuff.

The chilled outdoor space at the Cider Box taproom is the perfect place to spend the bank holiday weekend – Photo: The Cider Box

Sunday: B24/7: A Decade of Bristol Music, The Fleece
As Bristol24/7 reaches our 10th year of publishing, what better way to celebrate than a day filled with some of the city’s most exciting up & coming live music acts, at one of Bristol’s most historic venues. Seven acts in one day? You can’t beat it, we reckon.

A Decade of Bristol Music – photo: Bristol24/7

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Sunday: Grey Matter screening, Bristol Aquarium IMAX
A chance to watch Stephanie Beacham’s new film, Grey Matter, in the central Bristol IMAX Cinema. A fully accessible venue. Tickets are £15. All proceeds will go to Bristol charity, BRACE Dementia Research.

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Sunday: Kevin Quantum – Momentum, Redgrave Theatre
Explore the exotic space where science and magic meet with the magician-scientist-adventurer, trained by US magic legends Penn & Teller. With over a decade of Edinburgh Fringe sell-outs, performances around Europe and tours of Australia, Kevin embarks on his first ever UK tour with an entrancing collection of unique magic inventions, stunning sleight-of-hand and beautiful (yet deadly) stunts in a show – inspired by science but targeted at humans.

Kevin Quantum: Momentum – photo: Redgrave Theatre

And coming soon…

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May 3: The Breath, Bristol Cathedral
‘Quietly, inexorably, The Breath have become one of the most exciting folk acts’ – The Financial Times *****
Softly-spoken guitar whizz Stuart McCallum (Cinematic Orchestra) and larger-than-life singer/flautist Ríoghnach Connolly (BBC Folk Singer Of The Year) are something very special indeed. Catch their opening concert at Bristol Cathedral.
‘The jaw-droppingly stunning, woozy voice of Ríoghnach Connolly” The Guardian

The Breath – photo: Bristol Folk Festival

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May 5: Sheelanagig + Filkin’s Ensemble, St. George’s
Raise the roof this Bank Holiday with foot-stomping folk & joint-jumping tunes. South West quintet Sheelanagig headline a special concert with support from stunningly beautiful 14-piece Filkin’s Ensemble. Think Penguin Café meets Bellowhead, not to be missed.

Sheelanagig – photo: Bristol Folk Festival

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May 10: Vivaldi Four Seasons Wine Tasting, 1904 Arts Club
Imagine a cosy and intimate setting, where you can enjoy a glass of wine and listen to the beautiful sounds of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. You’ll be welcomed to the 1904 Arts Club, a hidden gem behind the Red Lodge Museum, with its quirky artefacts and cabaret-style seating. As the candles flicker, you’ll be treated to a live performance of Vivaldi’s masterpiece by the Bristol Ensemble, the city’s leading professional orchestra.

You’ll also get to taste four exquisite Italian wines, carefully selected by Oboe Fine Wines, who are known for their quality, sustainability and biodiversity. They’ll take you on a journey through each wine, and share the stories behind the music and the regions they come from.

Wine tasting with Vivaldi – photo: Bristol Ensemble

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May 11: Blown Away, Trinity Henleaze URC
A great programme of music for wind instruments performed by players from the Bristol Ensemble:

• Mozart Serenade for Wind in C minor K.388
• Dvořák Serenade for Winds in D minor Op.44

We’ll hear the powerful and characterful C minor serenade by Mozart, a four movement work full of ingenuity, twists and turns.  And also, Dvořák’s Serenade for Winds in D minor, unmistakably Czech, an homage to music-making in Czech palaces and stately homes.

Blown Away – photo: Henleaze Concert Society

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May 15: Einaudi meets Max Richter, St. George’s
A hypnotic evening of music featuring mesmerising works by Ludovico Einaudi, together with Max Richter’s engagingly refreshing reimagining of Vivaldi’s ever popular Four Seasons.

Einaudi mets Richter by candlelight – photo: Bristol Ensemble

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May 17-26: Mayfest, multiple venues
Bristol’s international festival of contemporary theatre and live performance, curated and produced by MAYK, is back with a programme spanning nine days, dozens of performances, events, and parties in some of Bristol’s best-loved venues as well as unexpected sites and locations throughout the city. All tickets are pay what you can.

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May 18-June 2: SABOTAGE by No Fit State Circus, No Fit State Big Top
SABOTAGE is another full-on, boisterous, and audaciously fierce performance with the NoFit State signature style. This energising, uplifting and socially relevant contemporary circus production directed by Firenza Guidi will be back in Bristol this May.

Sabotage – photo: No Fit State Circus

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June 1-9: Festival of Nature, multiple locations
Festival of Nature is the UK’s largest celebration of the natural world, taking place 1 – 9 June across Bristol and Bath. Running for over 20 years, Festival of Nature offers people the chance to connect with local wildlife, learn about the natural world, and take positive action for nature.

Festival of Nature – photo: Natural History Consortium

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June 8: Music for a blue planet, Trinity Henleaze URC
In collaboration with the Festival of Nature, the Bristol Ensemble will take us on a breathtaking musical exploration of our beautiful planet with music from the BBC series Blue Planet by George Fenton together with Schubert’s enduringly popular Trout Quintet. Written by the young composer at just 22 years of age, this Quintet has a freshness and serenity that has engaged players and audiences for nearly 200 years.  This will be the last concert of our season, do come and join us.

Music for a blue planet – photo: Henleaze Concert Society

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June 8 & 9: App-Fest Somerset, The Blue Bowl Inn
Set in the beautiful British countryside, App-Fest Somerset returns with headliner Starsailor, an incredible lineup of acts, and some of the finest tribute artists on the scene today. With a great selection of food and drink, family activities and much more to come, there really is something for everyone!

Appfest Somerset – photo: AppFest

Main photo: Bristol New Music

Read next:

• Amy Gledhill gears up to host the Friday night show at Bristol Comedy Garden
• Review: Jethro Tull, Bristol Beacon
• ‘Community Service’: theatre bringing together 80s policing and gospel guitar

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