My Bristol Favourites: Tony Benjamin

Tony Benjamin has been programming stages at Bristol Harbour Festival for almost two decades.

He moved to Bristol from Kent in the 1970s and has been devoted to the city ever since, becoming jazz and world music editor and food editor for Venue, and now regularly contributing to Bristol24/7 as well as working at Glastonbury and Valley Fest.

These are Tony’s top-five Bristol favourites:

Gloucester Road Books

Inside Gloucester Road Books – photo: Martin Booth

“When I first came to Bristol there were many excellent independent bookshops like the wonderful Chapter & Verse on Park Street. But once Waterstones arrived they began to die off, sadly. In the last few years, however, we have seen a new generation emerge and I was delighted when Gloucester Road Books opened just round the corner from me. It’s a really friendly shop with well chosen stock, and owner Tom and his colleagues are enthusiastically knowledgeable in just the right way. What they don’t have on the shelves they can quickly get on order and it’s just so nice to once again have a friendly portal to the joys of the printed word. Down with Amazon! Support your local bookstore!”

Purdown

Goats graze near the Purdown BT tower – photo: Martin Booth

“Coming down the M32 in 1970, the radio tower on Purdown was one of the first Bristolian landmarks I clocked. Years later, as a dog owner, I began to explore the varied green spaces around it and found a strangely wild world squeezed between the motorway and the Lockleaze estate. The rewilding and conservation work there has led to an amazing and ever-changing carpet of wild flowers as well as visits from the Street Goats and a resident kestrel family. I love it – and so does the dog.”

The Mayflower

The Mayflower is well known for being open into the early hours – photo: Martin Booth

“Tucked away between the Bearpit and the bus station, the Mayflower is my favourite Chinese restaurant. Years ago, having noticed that the Chinese families around us were having much more interesting looking food than the same old chow mien and sweet’n’sour pork from the English menu, we persuaded Henry the maitre to pick us a proper Chinese meal. It opened up a journey of discovery that never ends. These days there’s just one (16-page!) menu in both languages so you can pick out things like pork shanks and jellyfish, fishhead tofu or salted radish omelette for yourself. Watch out for that mouthwatering chicken, mind.”

The Jam Jar

Daniel Inzani at the Jam Jar – photo: Tony Benjamin

“Bristol’s small venue scene has always been brilliant, reflecting the astonishing wealth of live music the city has to offer. We lost a few during the lockdowns, however, so it’s been great that new places have been coming together since things got going again. The transformation of the Jam Jar in St Jude’s from a grubby warehouse squat vibe into a dazzlingly decorated and hip club has been matched by its splendidly left field music policy and I’ve had many very enjoyable evenings grooving there.”

The Harbour Festival

Proposals for a large road network over the docks were put forward by the council in the early 1970s, with the forerunner of the Harbour Festival, the Bristol Water Festival, a protest against these plans – photo: Martin Booth

“Well, I would pick that, wouldn’t I? But it sincerely is one of my favourite things about Bristol and I’m proud and privileged to have been involved with it. Running the main stage means I am able to showcase the best of Bristol’s top quality music scene to an audience that increasingly truly represents all of Bristol’s many communities, coming together in the heart of the city. My only regret is that being involved in just one stage means that I can’t get out and enjoy the great dance, spoken word, circus and other great entertainments I know are happening around the festival’s many areas. But I’m compensated by being able to watch an entire weekend of excellent music that I personally picked. Heaven!”

Main photo: Jan Davies

Read more: Everything you need to know about Bristol Harbour Festival 2022

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