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Free Gigs in Bristol

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Bristol's Free Gigs Scene

Where to find free music in Bristol Free music's pretty easy to find in Bristol. Whilst most gigs outside of the big venues are usually only a few quid, it's always nice to see some bands for free or a couple of pounds in a bucket (if they're good!) For guaranteed free music with your pint, go to a venue which has a free entry policy.

The Old Duke, The Canteen and The Golden Lion (except fridays) should probably be your first port-of-call to check out Coronation Tap are also very reliable and popular for free gigs. Luckily free gigs can happen anywhere, this means you can keep things interesting and not get bored of rotating the same Bristol venues. Free live music can crop up anywhere from the Grain Barge and Lousianna to Colston Hall and even St Georges.

The economy of free gigs. Can it survive Covid?

Good news: gigs in Bristol are more likely to be free than anywhere else! General ticket prices seem to be more common between free and £5; the £20+ bracket is a rare one compared to the capital’s high-end arts and theatre gigs. Bristol’s pandemic response has opened up some extra local music funding. Will free gigs disappear with the added financial pressures of covid? Indoor gigs may soon be possible, but how many of them will remain free and accessible?

Free outdoor gigs and festivals in Bristol

From mid June to the beginning of September Bristol Council and independent organisations put on some great free music events. Best of all there's something different almost every weekend and they don't cost any money! Significant large events include St Werbergh's Fair, The Harbourside Festival and St Pauls Carnival. In addition there are some great smaller, open air gigs with free entry to be found in places like Queens Square, Stokes Croft and Castle Park.

Buy tickets for free gigs events in Bristol

Our recent free gigs recommendations

A transcendental meeting of seasoned jazz travellers with subversive architects of chamber drone drift! Three groups rise from the shifting sands of the Avonian improv scene to wash the Cube in twinkling neo-classical ivory, cello that scratches and soothes, and kiddie-chaos percussive bursts. Soul food FFO: The Necks, ECM, Don Cherry, Alice Coltrane. Rah + Persimmonomenon + Oliver Brouwer & Luigi Marino at The Cube.

Free entry! Channelling the spirits of outsider troubadours like Moondog, Abner Jay and Tom Waits, Arthur Buezo crawls out the Oregon desert with only his banjo for protection and a kick drum for shade. The most primal 21st century folk-blues imaginable... this is how Warren Ellis & Nick Cave would sound trapped in an eternal Westworld loop. Arthur Buezo at The Canteen.

Richard Dawson and Éliane Radigue’s go-to harpist haunts Easton's most stunning space with spectral improv twang. Marrying ancient bardic traditions with the freest of free jazz, Rhodri sets the horsehairs alight in duo formation with radical UK percussion GOAT Mark Sanders, then in quartet mode with Bristol fav Rachel Musson on sax and Matt Davis on trumpet. The shape of harp to come! Rhodri Davies + Mark Sanders + Diabolus. Field Concert Series.

Total escapism awaits you at this 500-cap getaway in the breathtaking Isle of Purbeck. Dancing, wellness, and good vibes included + Seeker have really ramped up the music this year with Dele Sosimi’s monstrous slabs of deep Afrogroove, the raw soul of Ríoghnach Connolly’s The Breath and a soaring folk-rock headline slot from This Is The Kit. If this is gonna happen every year, colour us blessed. SEEKER 9th - 12th July 2026 A hidden music festival in the ancient stone, grasslands and woodland of Purbeck, South Dorset, with under 500 tickets.