Features / Bristicles
17 things to look forward to in Bristol in 2017
1. St Paul’s Carnival
St Paul’s Carnival is set to return to the streets this year having been absent since 2014. The new carnival commission’s Jules Davis said there was a “committed team” ready to bring the carnival back to “full strength, reimagined, rebirthed, revitalised back on to the streets of St Paul’s every first Saturday in July”.
2. International cricket
England will host Ireland for the first time in an international fixture next summer at a one-dayer on May 5. England will also play in Bristol at least once during the women’s cricket World Cup next summer, with a semi-final fixture taking place at the County Ground on July 18.
3. Bristol Harbour Spa
The subterranean vaults of two former banks on Corn Street will become the indulgent Bristol Harbour Spa, offering guests a mood-lit indoor swimming pool, hydrotherapy pool, sauna, salt grotto, crystal steam room and five treatment rooms.
4. Arena lift-off
Will this year see a start to the building of Bristol’s much-promised arena? The project has surely now come too far to be halted, with a bridge already built to ‘Arena Island’. “We will deliver but it must be cost effective,” says mayor Marvin, who promised an arena in his manifesto.
5. Finzels Reach Bridge
It was installed in pieces at the end of last year but we need to wait until this month to walk or cycle across the 91-metre structure. Costing £2.7 million, it connects Castle Park with the new Finzels Reach development.
6. Cargo 2
The original collection of converted shipping containers was one of the success stories of 2016. Cargo 2 is set to be double the size of Cargo 1, with its 38 units already confirmed to house Bravas’ sister bar Gambas, Bristol’s first Salt & Malt fish and chip restaurant, and the city’s third CUPP Bubble Tea among others, with a yoga studio and retail units on the ground floor.
7. 150th birthday
September 2017 marks 150 years since the first Colston Hall was built, and 150 years of bringing entertainment to the people of Bristol. They have big plans up their sleeves and will be inviting you to be part of their special birthday celebrations. With the transformation of their historic building drawing ever closer, they’ll make sure it’s a year to remember.
8. Bristol Women in Music
Bristol Women in Music is an association working to raise awareness of the roles, issues, and successes of women within the music industry. Their first ever conference will continue to encourage others to engage in new experiences and challenge themselves within their musical careers.
9. Bristol Film Festival
Returning for a second year in March, using the RWA and Bristol Museum again and adding new venues such as Arnos Vale Cemetery. The full programme is due to be announced in mid-January. Until then, enjoy booze’n’film events confirmed at Avery’s, with The Hangover on January 13 and Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet on February 17.
10. A warmer welcome
Bristol Cathedral’s West End is currently a bleak, unfriendly and underused mess, when it could be a grand gateway. Ideas to improve it by the end of this year include the addition of trees and plants, repaving, a café/welcome centre, seating and hosting more events.
11. Loco Klub
The underground arts venue underneath the Passenger Shed is set to be better than ever this year. Boasting a series of spectacular performance spaces including a grand hall of vaulted arches designed to support the original railway station, and a new space opening to the public for the first time in 2017.
12. Spaceman came down
A moustache can tell you a lot about a man. “This man has commanded spacecraft”, “this man escorted Soviet bombers our of Canadian airspace” or “this man lived in a research vessel at the bottom of the ocean.” Chris Hadfield has spent a lifetime living up to that responsibility. Learn how when he speaks at the Bristol Hippodrome on January 18.
13. Ethical banking
Triodos, whose UK headquarters are based in Bristol, is launching its very first personal account later this year. The bank is 100 per cent ethical – only lending money to people and organisations making a positive impact, culturally, socially and environmentally.
14. Radio ga ga
SWU.FM could be getting a full time FM licence in 2017, but it still needs listeners’ support to make it happen. The Bristol-based radio station – which specialises in urban and electronic genres – broadcast an unmissable month of music back in May last year, and is now looking to make itself a permanent fixture on Bristol’s airwaves.
15. Engine Shed 2
The derelict George and Railway hotel site opposite Temple Meads could be redeveloped this year into a home for the expansion of the successful Engine Shed enterprise hub. The collaborative project between the city council and University of Bristol also houses SETsquared, which was named as the best university business incubator in the world last year.
16. Giraffes at Wild Place
Following a successful crowdfunding campaign, giraffes could be the newest animals to move into Wild Place Project once a brand new giraffe house is built. Wild Place’s long-term aim is to protect giraffes, safeguarding a population in human care alongside a sustainable population in the wild.
17. Redcliff Quarter
The beginnings of Redcliff Quarter will be taking shape this year. The £180 million scheme taking up a 600,000 sq ft site will include an 82-metre tall tower, a Radisson Red hotel, flats, shops, restaurants, cafes, bars and offices.