21 things to do in Bristol this week, January 16-22 2023

All Week: Warm clothes needed for asylum seekers
Care4Calais, a charity providing aid to asylum seekers across the UK, have just recently set up a branch in Bristol. On Sunday, they will be distributing winter clothing and other essentials to asylum seekers currently living in the city. Text Alice (Gloucester Road) on 07789717449 or Camilla (east Bristol) on 07749119716 if you have clothes to donate, or you can donate via the link above.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cm7AcrqsBzj/

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Monday-Sunday: Heritage Display, RWA
There’s not long to catch the Free Heritage exhibition at the RWA. Discover the history of our beautiful building, the Drawing School and the traditions of the Annual Open Exhibition. From its creation by a major supporter, artist Ellen Sharples, through hard times during the war, and finally to our transformational Light and Inspiration building project and community outreach work, the exhibition brings together art and artefacts from the past 200 years.

RWA Heritage Display – photo: RWA

Monday: Bristol Mind’s Blue Monday comedy night, Hamilton House
Get through the supposed glummest day of the year with an evening of laughs at Hamilton House. Hosted by Stuart Goldsmith, there’s a host of names from across the comedy spectrum to have you chuckling the evening away.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CnBwH0nthhl/

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Screening now: Tár, Watershed
Cate Blanchett conducts a cancel culture symphony in Todd Field’s uncompromising masterpiece about a world-renowned musical maestro whose career and personal life comes crashing down when her history of toxic behaviour and abuse catches up with her.

Tuesday: Bristol Rewilding Group, Hen & Chicken
Crayfish and Pine Martens are the task of the day at this talk from the Bristol Rewilding Group. They will be going through their efforts to reintroduce these species, discussing the successes, challenges and surprising similarities between the two.

The Hen and Chicken on North Street – photo: Martin Booth

Wednesday: The Wheel of the Year – New Year tarot reading, To the Moon
Start the year with an authentic pagan tarot reading, in celebration of the symbolism intertwined with the eight festivals of the Pagan “wheel of the year.” If you’ve been to one of the readings at To the Moon before, this one is relatively similar, but with a new year twist.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CmoS7gNMe4m/

Thursday: Cider Vs Cheese: The first edition of 2023, The Cider Box
The ever-popular celebration of all things fermented returns with a bang for 2023 at the Cider Box, sharing a selection of the finest ciders and cheeses of the moment on a long table with other food and drink lovers.

The Cider Box continue their popular Cider & Cheese parties in 2023 – Photo: The Cider Box

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Opens Friday: Babylon, Watershed
A tale of outsized ambition and outrageous excess, Babylon traces the rise and fall of a multitude of characters during an era of unbridled decadence and depravity in Hollywood at the turn of the 19th century.

Friday: Guts (4hr set) + doc screening, Lost Horizon
The French soul, jazz and hip-hop producer/DJ comes to Lost Horizon to celebrate the release of his latest album Estrellas – a tribute to Afro-Cuban and African music, recorded in Cuba. His mammoth four-hour set will be preceded by a documentary screening telling the story of the creation of the project.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cly7BwmASW3/

Saturday: Burns Night barn dance, The Jam Jar
Party in the name of Burns Night at the Jam Jar, led by the fantastic London based Cut A Shine Ceilidh band. They will be up to their usual high energy antics, celebrating the traditional sound of the Hoe Down, until midnight – when the after party will commence.

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Saturday: Treasures of the Baroque by Candlelight, Trinity Henleaze URC
A captivating programme of sparkling instrumental music from the Baroque period by candlelight. Bach’s Sixth Brandenburg Concerto is scored for violas and cellos so has a mellow sonority but is unfailingly upbeat and joyous in mood. Biber’s famous Battalia is wonderfully engaging – dedicated to Bacchus, the god of wine, vegetation and theatre, it features many non-traditional musical techniques including striking the bow on the instruments, and snare-drum effects with paper woven through strings. Principals of the Bristol Ensemble perform concertos by Bach and Vivaldi.

The concerts are set to the beautiful backdrop of a candlelit Trinity-Henleaze URC – photo: Bristol Ensemble

Sunday: Bristol Vintage Kilo Sale, Bristol Beacon
The self-proclaimed “UKs biggest vintage kilo sale” returns, making its home in the Bristol Beacon. Shop ’til you drop for £20 a kilo, with discounted £18 a kilo tickets available to pre-purchase. You can even pay an extra pound for entry a couple hours before everyone else, to ensure the finest merchandise is still available.

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Sunday: Kayhan Kalhor & Erdal Erzincan, St George’s
The ongoing collaborations between Iranian artist Kayhan Kalhor and Erdal Erzincan fuse the respective traditions of Persia and Ottoman Turkey. Each draws on the folk and classical heritage of their homeland, with Grammy Award winner Kalhor being an acclaimed player of the kamancheh, a Persian spiked fiddle, whilst Erzincan is renowned for his mastery of the Turkish baglama, a long-necked lute. Ever since the pair released their album The Wind in 2006 they have continued to collaborate, their vibrant virtuosic explorations of Middle Eastern classical instrumentation creating striking and trance-like arrangements.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOAnjA6kzGs

And coming soon…

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January 27: Teachings in Dub: Dub Camp Festival Launch Party, Trinity Centre
Trinity and Teachings in Dub are extremely pleased to present the Bristol launch party for the renowned Dub Camp Festival in France. Teachings in Dub and Get Up Association hold the festival in very high regard and share the same vision when it comes to sound system and roots music. We are hosting the return of Bristol’s Qualitex Roots Vibration, to meet the mighty Sinai Sound out of Sheffield – two sounds, one arena!

https://www.instagram.com/p/CmrUhcMMK4X/

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February 3: Vivaldi’s Four Seasons by candlelight, John Wesley’s New Room
The Bristol Ensemble bring their amazing performances of Baroque masterpieces to the magical and intimate candlelight surroundings of the Wesley Chapel. The Wesley Chapel was built in 1748 so the building is a contemporary of much of the music you will hear tonight. Be transported back to the 1700s in this unique and wonderful evening of baroque music, architecture and candlelight.

The candlelit concerts are a tribute to the legends of classical music – photo: Bristol Ensemble

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February 3: Federico Albanese + Support, Bristol Beacon Foyer
Federico Albanese’s contemporary-classical compositions are inflected with jazz, avant-pop and electronica. Whilst piano predominates the Berlin-via-Milan multi-instrumentalist’s work, he also employs a wide range of sounds including tape processing, synthesisers, melodica and electric guitar. Albanese’s latest album ‘Before and Now Seems Infinite’ is his debut outing on Universal’s genre-defying Mercury RX imprint and features guest vocals from Marika Hackman and Ghostpoet. It also sees him explore memory via striking and haunting compositions that create poignantly vivid soundscapes.

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February 4: John-Luke Roberts: A world just like our own, but…, Tobacco Factory Theatres
An Edinburgh Festival sell-out hit, John-Luke Roberts returns to Bristol with a beautiful flight of comedy imagination about all the worlds we don’t live in, which is sneakily about the one we do.

John Luke Roberts at Tobacco Factory Theatres – photo: Tobacco Factory Theatres

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February 8-11: Big Boys Don’t Cry, Tobacco Factory Theatres
A couple of years ago, Dik and Adam set out to make a new show about being men. In a riot of colour, dance, clowning and puppetry, Dik and Adam take you on a hysterical journey that is full of heart, but close to the bone.

Big Boys Don’t Cry – photo: Tobacco Factory Theatres

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February 11: Tom Stade – The High Road, Redgrave Theatre
With impeccable style, and his usual sense of mischief, the Canadian comedy legend goes to places that others dare not tread. Join this hilarious trip as Tom travels the High Road…

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February 11 & 12: The Smartest Giant in Town, Redgrave Theatre
This heart-warming tale about friendship and helping those in need is brought to life in a musical, puppet-filled adventure, following on from Little Angel Theatre’s best selling adaptations of Julia Donaldson’s picture books including The Singing Mermaid and The Everywhere Bear.

The Smartest Giant in Town comes to Redgrave Theatre this February – photo: Redgrave Theatre

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April 7: Trinity Presents: Kabaka Pyramid, Trinity Centre
A conscious revolutionary lyricist with a signature musical style; Blending the power, energy, and melody of Reggae with the lyricism of Hip hop. A key pillar of the Reggae Revival movement, Kabaka Pyramid carved his way into the Jamaican reggae scene with Rebel Music in 2011. His hip hop roots were evident in the lyrical style and hard-hitting beats, laying the foundation for an ever-ascending career.

Main photo: Bristol Ensemble

Read next:

• 44 things to in Bristol in January 2023
• More gigs added to biggest Belly Laughs ever
• Bristol Brewhaha launches at Fierce & Noble

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