St Pauls Carnival 2025 Stages and Lineup

When is St Pauls Carnival?

This years carnival occurs on Saturday 1st July 2025.

Once the carnival has started it becomes a lot harder to work out which sound systems are where! Stages and sound systems are scattered throughout the streets of St Pauls. Closer to the time this page will include a Google map with each scheduled stage. These include the infamous PA systems and speaker stacks which the evening part of St Pauls Carnival is known for.

Our editor's top live music recommendation

Carnival proved beyond a doubt that Concrete Lion is the mightiest next-gen soundsystem in town. They return for a 10-tonne heavy, three way meeting with Bristol’s foundational Jah Lokko and Nottingham’s Kindread. All rigs and crews come road-tested and engineered to deliver only the heftiest Year 3000 steppas and rootical dubs to shake subs, walls, minds and feet. UNIFICATION OF DUB #8 at Green Works.

Hi-NRG dance-positivity from Saffron Records sensation Marla Kether. Inviting Leeds’ Coco Bops and Kojo Ajala to explore the Afro-diasporia on an ecstatic dancefloor with wile-out rhythms in the dancehall/amapiano/UKF/global bass continuum. Marla Kether Presents: Kilengi Dance Party at The Jam Jar.

From Strange Fruit to the martyr musicians of the Arab Spring, Sound System hunts down the soundwaves that have set the world alight, and how commodification undermines the revolutionary potential of this music. Dave Randall will be in-person launching an updated edition of this vital slice of left-leaning cultural commentary, including a new chapter on global Gazan protest songs. Sound System launch with Dave Randall at Bookhaus.

Low-key sonic alchemists unite for a summer scorcher at The Love Inn! Don’t Admit Defeat delivers deep, soulful house and disco grooves, Khadija Palmer fires up the floor with heavyweight dancehall and UK funky cuts, plus Merce Jade serves you slinky R&B and hip-hop. Don't Admit Defeat, Khadija Palmer + Merce Jade at The Love Inn.

A seismic earthstrong day for Two Step Forwards, basking in two years of flawless dub operations with Earl Sixteen up at the mansion on the hill. Lee Perry, Mad Professor, Jammy, Pablo... the Earl’s studio credits reads like a who's-who of roots and culture. Now the legendary toaster gives the Messenjah subs some real loving in a two room blow-out of reggae and revival sounds. Celebrating Two Years of Two Step Forward: Two Rooms of Music from the Foundation to the Future!

Sell out warning! Queers for Palestine fundraiser film telling 12 women’s tales of forced expulsion, generational trauma and forging homes away from home - all connected through the foundational Palestinian art of embroidery. Join us on 7th July where we will be screening the film Stitching Palestine (2017), all profits go to families in Gaza.

Stage organisers can use this page to announce set times for the djs and mcs for the music stages and sound systems at Bristol’s 2025 carnival. While the main stages focus on Caribbean music, it’s foolish to consider St Pauls carnival as predominantly dub and reggae event. Programmed by sound system owners and local promoters, the lineups for the stages each bring different musical styles and artists to the 2025 event. From established drum & bass and dubstep djs to the cutting edge electronica and house producers that Bristol is becoming known for, St Pauls carnival by night is a celebration of Bristol’s diverse music scene.

When the sound systems switch off around midnight, the party moves indoors with almost every venue in Bristol boasting some form of St Pauls carnival after party. After parties range from big club events in venues like Lakota, Basement 45, The Black Swan and Blue Mountain, to free-entry all-nighters in the pubs and bars around St Pauls and Stokes Croft. The event listings below outline all of the free and paid after parties for this years carnival.

This year's carnival after parties

— Crofters Rights

Crofters Carnival: Brown Excellence, Club Siren ++ Tickets

— The Love Inn

Club Djembe Carnvial After Party Tickets

— The Canteen

St Paul's Carnival All Dayer + Afterparty Tickets

— Strange Brew

Strange Brew Nights - Dirtytalk DJs + Fig b2b Suze Tickets

— Phoenix Pub

DTYM - Bristol Pride Fundraiser Tickets

— The Old Market Assembly

BRISTOL NORTHERN SOUL CLUB Tickets

— Lakota

Lakota's St Pauls Carnival Day & Night Party Tickets

— New Bristol Brewery

Disco Dinner Carnival Day Party Takeover Tickets

— Dare to Club

FNUK de HOUSE'D - SECONDCITY & ELLIE COCKS Tickets

— To The Moon

DJ Folu's House Party - carnival special! Tickets

— To The Moon

FOLU'S AFROHOUSE PARTY - CARNIVAL EDITION Tickets

— The Cock and Tail

Eject x Uprise: St Paul's Afters// Rominimal, Free Tickets

— No. 51s

Rockit Science Tickets

— The Jam Jar

Jungle Connoisseur & The ASBO Disco: Bristol Fire Tickets

— Lost Horizon

Carnival Afterparty w/ Joker & King Original Tickets

— Revs de cuba

Carnival showdown Tickets

— Loco Klub

SUBVISION CARNIVAL AFTER PARTY Tickets

— Basement 45

Apocalypse Bristol - Metal // Emo // Alternative Tickets

— The Lanes

All Out 90's Tickets

— Dare to Club

FNUK de House'D Afters with Slipmatt and Tenacious Tickets

— The Fleece

Propaganda - Indie vs Pop-Punk Special! Tickets

“The project began in the quiet and solitude of lockdown, before coming alive in a creatively explosive residency at the newly opened Cornish Bank in 2022 – a vibrant not-for-profit community arts space in the centre of Falmouth which has become the heart of a thriving underground Cornish scene of which Blind Yeo are very much a part. The band has since grown into a psychedelic carnival of sound best experienced live.”
From: Blind Yeo + Pictish Trail

“ARTUBA are a highly experienced pair of musicians who formed a duo in 2021. Since that time they have played in and around the South West of England including numerous gigs in the Bristol area. Notable highlights include playing on the Bristol Ferry and Strange Brew as part of the Diaspora Festival, performing at the Bristol Beacon at the Celebrating Age Festival. They recently performed Caribbean folk songs at Trinity Centre Bristol as part of their Windrush Celebration Day and also played at Circomedia as part of St Paul's 2025, carnival celebration 'Back a Yard'.”
From: Long Time Gal

“The Brass Junkies are a dynamic 8 piece brass band inspired by the funky Mardi Gras sounds of the New Orleans street bands. Two trumpets, two saxophones, trombone, drums/percussion and tuba keeping it funky at the bottom end this high-energy, good-time music will bring some carnival atmosphere to the place!”
From: Brass Junkies

“This thoughtfully curated event celebrates the cultural roots and creative energy that continue to shape the label and the city's identity. Through a striking blend of photography, print, and graphic design, the exhibition pays tribute to the rich heritage of Jamaican culture, art, fashion and music. Taking place during the St Pauls carnival weekend– the powerful forces that have long inspired and informed the label’s vision are present throughout the surrounding area.”
From: Poor Man’s Friend Presents: Roots Restoration Exhibition 4TH -7TH

“Come and join us as we start the St Paul’s carnival weekend with talented producer and vocalist Eminence! Fresh from touring Australia and New Zealand, recently Eminence’s work has been released on some important hardcore jungle labels such as Future Retro, Mined, Code Name Records etc.”
From: Education Sessions with Eminence

St Pauls Carnival Map and Set Times.

When is St Pauls Carnival?

Our editor's top live music recommendation

This year's carnival after parties