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
Sell out warning! Fiery reggaeton riddims, low-slung afrobeats and non-stop clurrrb festive mayhem; get ready to dust off those winter cobwebs for a pre NYE workout with Winter Whine. Yusef Suave and Handstand Papi, butt-2-butt all night long!
Winter Whine 8 at Strange Brew.
Legendary MC and dancehall don Thunda Banton heads up this sizzling winter warmer from the Back A Yard crew. Joined by a stacked bill of regulars including Nymfro, Sky Lion, Jonesy Wales and Stormy J, expect roots, reggae, amapiano, dub and bashment with all the trimmings.
Back A Yard Holiday Heatwave at The Jam Jar.
Unmissable UK debut from the Malian vocalist and balafon star! PCHA takes traditional West African instrumentation and blends it with melodic afrobeats, rap and pop; performing alongside virtuosic percussionist Seydou Kienou + plenty of amapiano, percussive club, baile funk and bass heat from Inda Flo.
Africa musicans x underground club DJs, live percussion, and the uk debut of Mali’s rising Afrobeats & balafon star Pcha
A sweet double dose of Isle of Eigg cult microlabel Lost Map: the carnivalesque psych-folk of seven-member Cornish collective Blind Yeo will carry the Jar to new cosmic heights, bolstered by gloopy electro-indie-pop from label founder Pictish Trail. Fans of Tunng, The Beta Band, Melin Melyn, Jane Weaver etc – jump on it.
Blind Yeo brings a psychedelic carnival of sound, while Pictish Trail delivers his uniquely imaginative blend of electro-acoustic psych-pop. Together, they offer an electrifying spectrum of sound, creativity, and dynamic live performance.
Halloween party for the femmes and thems! Femme Fatale takes over
Exchange with a fierce and fabulous carnival feat all-night pumping tunes – with Promiscuous Piggy’s sexy hyperpop and booty-bass, playful tech-house, nu-disco and UK funky from Coren, Mother Markos on the percussive house + Tully serving trance, garage and techno.
Enter Femme Fatale’s, Carnival of Chaos. A Halloween themed club night exclusively for women and non-binary! For femme & butch people. Expect empowering performances, and djs spinning music that'll ignite your soul.
LIFTED returns with a top-tier celebration of contemporary African dance music, led by Sweetny-Ivy’s infectious grooves alongside ROA Archive and Jonesy Wales, whose deep, percussive selections span amapiano, Afro house, soca, and UK garage.
Contemporary African Dance Music
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.
“Bringing 25 years of experience, tracking back to the vibrant scenes of Liverpool and London during the late nineties and early noughties, Sarah brings a fusion of generations and genres, seamlessly intertwining house, disco, acid, afro, and carnival beats into a sweaty joyous dancefloor journey from beginning to end.”
From:
Wiper and True's Annual NYE House Party
“Cheza Lucina is a dynamic artist and DJ fusing Afro, Caribbean, and Latinx sounds with UK underground bass — from jungle and dubstep to garage and funky house — in their signature Jungle Soca style. Founder of BUMPAH and co-producer of Popola UK and Felt Sound System, they’ve lit up stages from Glastonbury to St. Vincent, bringing carnival energy and global bass to every set.”
From:
Twende & Wildtune present: PCHA
“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
“Where the original was raw terror, the sequel is a grotesque carnival; louder, gorier, and funnier than anyone expected. Leatherface, Chop-Top, and the Sawyer clan are back, this time trading the dusty backroads of Texas for radio stations, underground lairs, and chainsaw duels the size of opera.”
From:
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2
“On Wednesday 29th October, Be Kind Rewind Bristol + Bristol Queer Cinema Club** invite you to step back into the carnival of cinema’s strangest showman with William Castle’s cult shocker The Tingler - screening in the basement at
The Ill Repute as we count down to Halloween night.”
From:
The Tingler