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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

Sell out warning! Local beloveds Heavy Lungs bring their titanic breed of tumultuous noise rock to single-handedly save your Riffmas in a winning combo with toxic-surf noir-punks Grandma’s House. Two of Bristol’s finest here, don’t think about it tooooooo hard. Heavy Lungs & Grandmas House Riffmas Party at The Louisiana.

Free entry! One of Bristol’s most consistent new star-gazing psych units steps up for a deserved headline slot full of hypnotic kosmische pulse, epic eldritch jams and proggy transcendence. New local favs FFO: Minami Deutsch, (Swedish) Goat, Can, Slift. Redmoor at The Canteen.

Reem encloses a whole nation in her voice: soaring high on chants and feverish crescendos filled with sacred tradition, modern resistance poetry, fierce pride and a sense of suffering most cannot comprehend. Fusing her own folk research with the rich songbook of the Levant and contemporary jazz practices; it’s hard to pick a more poignant figure of musical unity right now, or a more powerful opening for BPFF. Reem Kelani at Arnolfini.

Gruelling 10 hour / 10 band marathon of blastbeat extinction, primal growls and finger-bleeding guitarwork. You gotta embrace the chaos to last til midnight with demonic blackened deathcore outfit Existentialist, brutal groove metallers Lacerta, local post-metalcore beatdown from Cober Mouth + more. Essential FFO: The Acacia Strain, Oceano, Slipknot, Rosetta. Existentialist + 9 at Moor Beer Co.