Features / Bristol
25 things to look forward to in Bristol in 2025
From the return of Gromit Unleashed to a gun through time, here are some highlights of 2025 to look forward to in Bristol.
1. Idles, Queen Square
August 1 & 2
The biggest gigs of the year will see 14,000 fans packed into Queen Square for two nights
2. Gromit Unleashed 3
June 30-August 31
Sculptures of Wallace, Gromit, Feathers McGraw and Norbot will be raising money for the Grand Appeal
3. Odeon and M&S opening in Cabot Circus
There will be two major new openings in Cabot Circus, with the Odeon in the former Showcase Cinema De Lux and M&S in the old House of Fraser
4. Women’s Rugby World Cup, Ashton Gate
September 13-20
Both semi-finals at the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 will be played at Ashton Gate, which will also host two quarter-finals
5. Play On!, Bristol Old Vic
January 16-25
A jazz musical set in New York fusing the music of Duke Ellington with street dance choreography, based on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night
6. Kinetics Island Festival, Eastville Park
September
After being postponed in 2024, the dance music festival from the team behind Motion is set to make its debut
7. A new dance-dedicated theatre
Impermanence is set to launch a new 200-seat theatre for dance at the Mount Without, a new venture which they hope will help to transform Bristol’s dance scene
8. Loreen, Academy
March 23
Swedish singer-songwriter Loreen is the only woman ever to win the Eurovsion Song Contest twice, in 2012 and 2023
9. Flaming Lips, Bristol Beacon
May 5
Do you realise that the Flaming Lips are celebrating the 20th anniversary of their classic album Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots?
10. Filwood in Motion
During a year of major regeneration work in Knowle West, artists will make work with the local community centred around Filwood Broadway
More than £14.5m from the government’s Levelling Up Fund is being spent on improving Filwood Broadway – photo: Charlie Watts
11. New electric buses
In big bus news, 74 fully electric buses will be coming soon on services 8, 24, 70, 72, 73, 75 and 76
12. Metro mayor elections
May 1
Money for the buses (see above) will come in part from the West of England Combined Authority, who will be getting a new mayor this year
13. Light Festival
January 31-February 9
It may have only been going for a few years but the Light Festival is already an annual highlight
14. Jazz Emu, Redgrave Theatre
February 25
Jazz Emu is the viral comedy character sensation from award-winning writer, actor, musician Archie Henderson
15. Derren Brown, Hippodrome
May 27-31
The multi award-winning master of mind control and University of Bristol graduate returns with a new live show, Only Human
16. International T20s Seat Unique Stadium
June 8 & July 1
England men take on the West Indies on June 8 while England women face India on July 1
17. Hotel Gotham opening
Autumn 2025 is the estimated opening date of Hotel Gotham on Small Street, a five-star hotel within Bristol’s historic Guildhall
18. BoxHall
Like Hotel Gotham, BoxHall on Welsh Back has been beset by delays. Could this year finally see the opening of the “premium food, beer and music hall concept”?
19. Circus City
The biannual festival that “celebrates Bristol as a city of circus accessible to all” is set to return
20. David Olusoga: A Gun Through Time, Bristol Beacon
November 2
The Bristol-based historian uncovers the story of three firearms that changed the world and the lives of our ancestors
21. St Paul’s Carnival
July 5
This year will see a return of the now-biennial carnival to the streets of St Paul’s
St Paul’s Carnival is set to return in 2025 – photo: Bhagesh Sachania
22. New spoken word album from Sukina Noor
Bristol’s city poet is turning her debut poetry collection, Love and Longing: Yearning for the Face of God, into a spoken word album of the same name
23. Itch! by Gemma Amor
October 9
The folk horror novel by the Bristol author is her first work to be published by Hodder & Stoughton
24. Young Sherlock on Amazon Prime
Scenes for this Guy Ritchie-directed drama starring Hero Fiennes Tiffin in the title role have been filmed in Queen Square and the Old City, with Bristol doubling for 1870s Oxford
25. Bristol Legends
Bristol Legends is a flagship awards event from Bristol24/7, launching in 2025; celebrating Bristol and its incredible people, charities, creatives, businesses and organisations
This article is taken from the January/February 2025 Bristol24/7 magazine
Main photo: Simon Boddy
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