21 things to look forward to in Bristol in 2021

What will 2021 hold for Bristol?

From Daleks to cricket, elections to ice skating, it’s set to be another busy 12 months ahead.

These are just a few things to look forward to in Bristol this year:

1. Nile Rogers & Chic at Lloyds Amphitheatre

We all need good times and who better to provide those than Nile Rogers and Chic? These two shows – rescheduled from last summer – are due to take place on July 14 and 15. The rather more sedate Belle & Sebastian are due to play at the Lloyds Amphitheatre the following day; while in June, both Lionel Richie and Bryan Adams are also scheduled to play in an as-yet undisclosed city centre location.

2. Project What If at We The Curious 

Project What If was due to open in November 2020 but was scuppered when Bristol was put into tier 3 – photo: Julian Welsh

The ground floor of We The Curious has been transformed into a multimillion pound new exhibition, Project What If, inspired by questions posed by people across Bristol. “We want Bristolians of all ages and backgrounds to be proud of the gorgeous exhibition they helped create and for that exhibition to mirror the diversity and beauty of Bristol itself,” says projects producer, Amelia Howarth. Come and play with 68 new exhibits and 25 art pieces clustered around seven questions on themes including rainbows, time and soul.

3. Daleks on the Clifton Suspension Bridge

On a Tuesday evening back in October 2019, Clifton Suspension Bridge was closed to traffic for what was claimed to be a routine inspection to the main chain anchorage. But while this was taking place, one of the most feared races in the universe took the opportunity to strut their stuff across Brunel’s famous span. What the Daleks were doing in Bristol will be revealed on New Year’s Day when Revolution of the Daleks is aired on BBC One.

4. Edward Colston statue to go on display 

Colston’s statue was toppled on June 7 2020 – photo: Martin Booth

The toppling of Edward Colston’s statue and its dumping in the docks made headlines around the world. Before it was pulled out of the water, Bristol mayor Marvin Rees confirmed that it would be put on display in a museum (most likely the M Shed) alongside the placards that had been left by Black Lives Matters protesters around the empty plinth.

5. Michael Spicer: The Room Next Door at Tobacco Factory Theatres

One of the breakout internet stars of lockdown, Michael Spicer is due to head out into the real world in 2021, including a show at the Tobacco Factory Theatres on March 24. The sketches from the comedy writer, actor and director have also appeared on The Late Late Show with James Corden, with his debut book, The Secret Political Adviser, released in October last year.

6. The Working Class Writers Festival

The Working Class Writers Festival is taking place at the Watershed – photo: Martin Booth

The Working Class Writers Festival – part of Bristol Festival of Ideas – is a new festival taking place at the Watershed from October 21 to 24 committed to celebrating working class writers. Writing in the most recent issue of the Society of Authors journal, The Author, artistic director Natasha Carthew said: “It has taken me two years to make The Working Class Writers Festival a reality, but a lifetime to overcome the barriers working-class writers face every day.”

7. Brown Baby by Nikesh Shukla

https://twitter.com/nikeshshukla/status/1339614014654066689

Bristol author Nikesh Shukla’s memoir, Brown Baby, published on February 4, explores themes of racism, feminism, parenting and our shifting ideas of home. “How do you find hope and even joy in a world that is racist, sexist and facing climate crisis?” ask publishers Pan Macmillan. “How do you prepare your children for it, but also fill them with all the boundlessness and eccentricity that they deserve and that life has to offer?”

8. The Pony North Street

A former courtyard behind Bristol Beer Factory’s tap room is set to be transformed into the Pony North Street from the team behind the Michelin-starred Pony & Trap in Chew Magna. The new restaurant from Holly and Josh Eggleton promises modern British bistro classics, “full of all the charm, passion and deliciousness of the original Pony & Trap, but this time in Bristol”.

9. Lakota Gardens

Lakota Gardens is located in the courtyard of Lakota in St Paul’s – photo by Giulia Spadafora / Soul Media

When most venues in Bristol were forced to close last year, one new venue made a surprise appearance and – tiers permitting – has a busy 2021 planned. Future events at Lakota Gardens include Eats Everything (Jan 16), the Invisible Circus’ Firestorm Cabaret (Jan 17 and This is the Kit (Jan 26).

10. The Offenders

Stephen Merchant’s new BBC One comedy-drama The Offenders is currently filming in Bristol. The cast includes Merchant alongside Oscar winner Christopher Walken and Poldark’s Eleanor Tomlinson. The six-part series, which will also be broadcast on Amazon Prime, follows seven strangers from different walks of life forced together to complete a community service sentence in Bristol.

11. Vanguard – Bristol Street Art: The Evolution of a Global Movement

Photos by Karen Dews will form part of the Vanguard exhibition – photo: Karen Dews

Street art leaves the street for the museum at this exhibition at M Shed due to run from June to October. Curators promise a “must-see exhibition that celebrates Bristol’s pivotal role in the development of British street art over the last four decades”. Expect works from the likes of Banksy, Henry Chalfant, Beezer and Robert Del Naja.

12. Wallace & Gromit: The Big Fix Up

The Big Fix Up, coming in January, combines the latest in augmented and mixed reality. Join and interact with new and familiar characters as the story unfolds over time. The plasticine pair’s latest business venture, Spick & Spanners, sees them take on the contract of a lifetime: to ‘Fix Up’ Bristol. Fans will be invited to download a free app and become an employee, stepping directly into the world of Wallace & Gromit.

13. Planet Ice opens at Cribbs Causeway

As well as ice skating, Planet Ice will also house an indoor skydiving centre – image: Planet Ice

Almost a decade since Bristol’s former ice rink in Frogmore Street closed, a new ice rink is due to open in the spring at Cribbs Causeway. Planet Ice will become the UK’s largest ice skating rink – with a capacity to seat 1,300 spectators – and will be the new home of the Bristol Pitbulls. The opening of the ice rink, however, will continue the worrying trend of Bristol losing opportunities to South Gloucestershire.

14. Mayoral election

Bristol’s mayoral elections were postponed in May 2019 – photo: Martin Booth

Marvin Rees will seek re-election as mayor of Bristol in May. His confirmed challengers so far are limited to the Green Party’s Sandy Hore-Ruthven and independent John Langley, thanks to the withdrawals of both the Conservative and Lib Dem candidates, with Tory Samuel Williams now setting his heights on the prize of West of England metro mayor.

15. Chocolate Path reopening

The chocolate path in happier times in 2014, although some subsidence can already be seen – photo by Jon Usher

Could this be the year that Bristol’s beloved chocolate path reopens? It has been closed since December 2017 with a large section of the path falling into the New Cut in January 2020. Work to reconstruct the river wall along a 110-metre stretch of Cumberland Road is ongoing, which alongside a road stabilisation programme and improvements to flood defences is set to last until summer 2022. (Remember, it only took five years to construct the entire three miles of the New Cut in the early 19th century.)

16. Artist Residence

Bristol’s future Artist Residence has sister hotels in Brighton, London, Oxfordshire and Penzance – photo: Artist Residence

You’ve got to feel sorry for the team behind Artist Residence. Originally due to open in summer 2019, the historic structure of the former boot factory on Portland Square in St Paul’s proved more problematic than originally envisaged to transform into a 23-bedroom boutique hotel. Further delays were inevitably caused by the coronavirus pandemic, but 2021 could finally be their year.

17. New shops at Wapping Wharf

These empty ground floor units will become new shops in 2021 – photo: Martin Booth

Even more exciting than new shops at Wapping Wharf on a new street stretching from Fig1 towards Wapping Road will be the opportunity to walk through the gatehouse of the former Bristol New Gaol. The last public execution in Bristol took place on its roof in 1849, with the gaol closing in 1883.

18. Super Cool Drawing Machine at Bristol Beacon

The Bristol Beacon is also due to unveil its visual identity in 2021 – photo: Martin Booth

Super Cool Drawing Machine promises to be a celebration of visual art created by a host of internationally acclaimed musicians from a wide spectrum of genres including Shabaka Hutchings, Cate Le Bon, Richard Dawson and members of This is The Kit. The exhibit in January in the Bristol Beacon foyer will showcase paintings, photography, drawings, ceramics, digital instillations, recycled arts, sculpture and furniture.

19. England vs Sri Lanka

England games at the County Ground always sell out – photo: Glos Cricket

A five-Test series against India is planned to headline the men’s international summer in 2021, following a one-day series against Sri Lanka, and one-days and T20s against Pakistan. England vs Sri Lanka in a Royal London One-Day International is due to take place at the County Ground in Ashley Down on July 4.

20. Boston Tea Party to open new cafe

The new Boston Tea Party on Whiteladies Road will move into a grade II-listed 19th-century former church building which was most recently River Cottage Kitchen – photo: Martin Booth

Boston Tea Party are preparing to leave their cafe on Whiteladies Road – with expansion plans in mind. It comes as the Bristol-based chain also closed their store in Clifton Village in 2020, which reopened as the city’s fifth Eat a Pitta. The two BS8 BTPs will combine into one larger space in 2021 within the former River Cottage Kitchen.

21. Root by Rob Howell

Root on the first floor of Cargo 1 on Gaol Ferry Steps opened in 2017, replacing the short-lived Chicken Shed  – photo: Root

The debut cookbook by Root head chef Rob Howell is simply called Root, with a subtitle of “small vegetable plates, a little meat on the side”. Due to be published by Bloomsbury in March, there will be more than 100 recipes from the award-wining Wapping Wharf restaurant.

Root is being published by Bloomsbury on March 18 – image: Bloomsbury

Main photo of We The Curious’ Project What If: Julian Welsh

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