What's On / Bristol Gigs / free gigs

Free Gigs in Bristol

upcoming gig

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

New Brew kids Natural Causes are your maître d' thru three intimate courses of delectable V-Day noise. With looping lo-fi EBM/dance/disco from future-primitive entity Soborgnost on appetizer duty, a huge helping of playful, industrial-laced pop-dub from Belgium’s Daisy Ray to follow, and ritualistic meltdown jazz from wildly experimental ten-piece Export Import for dessert. Gorge yourselves darlings! Natural Causes #1 Export Import, Daisy Ray, Soborgnost at Strange Brew.

Sell out warning! Harmonium-driven fantasy drone folk of the highest order, loaded with the longing and whimsy and underlying bloody horrorshow of good ol’ Blighty. Greet’s uncanny wheezing and ecstatic crescondos pair with Ancient Hostility’s rousing anarcho ballads in a pitch perfect eve FFO: Lankum, Daisy Rickman, Hawthonn, Shovel Dance. Greet, Ancient Hostility, Molly Samson, and Say, God at Strange Brew.

Sheffield’s knotty computer music maestro Rian Treanor meets the wind instrument minimalism of Japan’s Rai Tateishi, pairing Autechre-esque rhythmic workouts with stark, ancient harmonics. Their bizarro style is prodded further into the vortex by Eye Measure’s corrupted cyber-coding and Luigi Marino's deep explorations in Wuhan cymbals. Rian Treanor & Rai Tateishi + Eye Measure at The Cube.

An immersive odyssey through the foggy dreamscapes of Neil Ó Lochlainn & Cuar: dense ancestral Irish chamber-jazz stuffed with stretched Sean-nós melodies, bowed scrapes, and microtonal folds. Support comes from experimental harpist Rhodri Davies, distinguished local trumpeter Pete Judge and Scottish Gaelic vocalist Ewen MacIntyre. Essential FFO: Slow Airs, The Gloaming, Lúnasa, Nightnoise. A new year’s evening of traditional & improvised chamber music