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

Sell out warning! Join the upful 30 year revelries for the OG squat ska punks that refuse to lie down. Must-attend if you like your punk with lashings of upbeat dub guitars, folk singalongs and flag-burning lyricism. Huge FFO: The Slits, Citizen Fish, pre-footie anthem Chumbawumba, The Clash in dub, Capdown, Operation Ivy. UK squat punk legends celebrate their 30th solar revolution. Punk meets folk, meets dub, meets ska.

A Bristol blues gig of rare quality with powerful mouth-harp wails and impassioned vocals from one of the greatest to ever do it. Johnny Mars, aka the “Jimi Hendrix of the harmonica”, will be joined by full band - Hammond organ, guitar and drums - in the intimate environs of Cotham Parish Church. Essential night out FFO classic blues / blues rock like: Magic Sam, BB King, Earl Hooker, Spencer Davis / Steve Winwood, Cream. Blues, Blues Christmas: swaggering, no-nonsense, American electric blues.

Sell out warning! Kill your idols to make way for the grand Japanoise architect and arch-mystic of live ritual mayhem. Anything we say about EYE will become irrelevant by the time he takes stage to unleash a glitching punk glyph hinting at the future of all sound. If you know, you know, but you still won’t know….until you go. SHFTD & Strange Brew present a batshit night of experimentalism for the last gig of 2024. Featuring one of the most pioneering experimental artists of all time - ∈Y∋ - founder of Japanese noise band Boredoms & Hanatarash, performing with AV artist C.O.L.O. Supported by BUFFEE (Spinny Nights), MXLX, Ekstasis + Bruno & the Outrageous Methods of Presentation. Buckle up.

Last seen in town with Spanish guitar gaucho Victor Herrero, the majestic trad/not-trad fiddle of Mikey Kenney is a real treat from Ear Trumpet. Giddy strings steeped in 1,000 years of rich UK ballads, peppered with Mikey’s own urban Merseyside compositions and influences from bluegrass to Italian folk and beyond. Plaintive delights FFO: Tommy Peoples, Aidan O'Rourke, Aaron Catlow, Band of Burns. Mikey Kenney is an original. A passionate and well-respected advocate for traditional music.