Scroll down for more info + how to book for both events.
Day 1 – Stokes Croft Calling
27.10.24.
Discover Bristol’s creative heart at Stokes Croft Calling—a FREE all-day celebration where art, performance, and history collide. The streets will come to life with fresh performances and interactive activities inspired by the area’s rich history. Explore hidden gems in local businesses and contribute your own creative spark to the story of the neighbourhood. With free tickets available for timed entry, you can create a day that suits you. Read on for more info + how to book.
Join Compass on a time travelling escapade to the 1700’s where the Full Moon on Stokes Croft is a place of rest for you, a wearisome traveller. Come on in and meet bare-knuckle Bessie, ringmaster-cum-bar-mistress, and at least one of her circussy entourage! Be in awe at fire stunts and juggling. Watch out that Bessie doesn’t steal you to run away with the circus!
Location: Full Moon
Experience Type: Circus
Length (approx.): 15 minutes
Seated/ Standing: Mixture of seated and standing. Informal
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Award-winning spoken word artist Muneera Pilgrim brings her razor sharp observation to a specially commissioned performance at PRSC. Capturing the essence of Stokes Croft, Muneera will use her unique power to spark connections, nourishing us with ideas that we’ll carry with us around the street.
Location: PRSC
Experience Type: Spoken Word
Length (approx.): 10 minutes
Seated/ Standing: Mixture of seated and standing. Informal
BOOK TICKETS
Calling all synthesiser nerds, drum machine aficionados, modular patchers and curious minds. Are you ready for an adventure into electronic sound?! This is a rare opportunity to take part in a mass musical composition, as local indie shop Elevator Sounds wire up their synths so the whole shop becomes a huge musical instrument. Come and get your hands on some cables, twiddle some knobs, and drop some beats.
Location: Elevator Sound
Experience Type: Music Workshop
Length (approx.): 30 minutes
Seated/ Standing: Standing (unless otherwise arranged). Informal
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Be part of the ever-changing visual landscape of The Croft, and claim your own corner in the legacy of local street art. Kingpins of the community PRSC share their expertise in a street-art workshop specially designed for you to take part. Contribute to a brand-new work of art on their mural wall. Booking is necessary to take part. Everyone is welcome to watch the work as it grows over the course of the day.
Location: PRSC
Experience Type: Street Art Mural Workshop
Length (approx.): 30 minutes
Seated/ Standing: Standing (unless otherwise arranged). Informal
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Lights, Cameras, Furniture, Fashion! Ever seen a mannequin slowly come to life in a shop window? Bristol Ballroom Community will transform the window of Happytat and Second Combing into a catwalk, runway and stage. We invite you to gather outside and watch as the fun unfolds! Expect local vintage clothing, live-mannequin modelling and some of the voguing categories you know and love!
Location: HappyTat
Experience Type: Fashion Show/ Voguing
Length (approx.): 15 minutes
Standing/ Seated: Standing; Informal
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Do not miss this unusual and artistic imagining of Banksy’s famous ‘Mild Mild West’ mural, retold through the popular Brazilian martial art of Capoeira. Metres away from the original Banksy, the performance will take place against the backdrop of Yellow Face Lady by artist Stinkfish.
Location: Yellow Face Lady Mural
Experience Type: Dance/ Martial Art
Length (approx.): 15 minutes
Standing/Seated: Standing (unless otherwise arranged); informal
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Settle in, gather round and let your imaginations loose as the wonderful Doctah Edson Burton takes you on a journey through the Stokes Croft of times gone by. Expect giants, pirates, skeletons and bears!
Location: No. 51’s (Via Jamaica Street)
Experience Type: Storytelling
Length (approx.): 20 minutes
Seated/ Standing: Seated; informal.
BOOK TICKETS
But wait, there’s more! More of this programme is to be announced with fun quests to embark on, individual discoveries to be made, and goodies to be eaten at some of your favourite Stokes Croft joints. Keep up to date with announcements via our social media channels.
Event Timetable
Day 2 – The Stokes Croft Calling Show
09.11.24.
Missed out on the day-long Stokes Croft Calling celebration? Or are you keen to see the work of art you created there, unveiled for audiences?!
After two weeks breathing room, the performances and collaborations performed on the street will be re-presented in this two hour show, set across multiple venues around Stokes Croft. Sign up via the button below to register your interest.
Sign up for info + tickets
More Information
All Stokes Croft Calling events are free, but space is limited. Walk-ins are allowed if available, but we recommend booking in advance to secure your spot. In some cases, a small refundable payment may be required, which can be refunded after the event or used as credit at a local business. Check the event details for specifics. We want our events to be accessible to everyone. If you cannot pay the deposit, please contact [email protected] so we can arrange for you to book without.
Box Office Info
You may be asked to show your ticket on arrival so please have it to hand, whether on your device or printed if you do not have a smartphone. Guide times as to the length of performances are approximate only. Please allow walking time between shows for transit (it takes roughly 6 minutes for an able-bodied adult to walk from one end of Stokes Croft to the other without stopping). Please arrive 5 minutes before the advertised show start time. Latecomers will not have their spaces held. At the time of each performance/ activity spaces will be allocated to walk-ups waiting.
Accessibility
We strive to make this event accessible to everyone. Since the event spans multiple locations throughout the day, including small businesses on a busy high street, accessibility may vary. While all areas are wheelchair and pushchair accessible, it would help us to know about these so we can manage the space.Please contact us in advance to discuss these, or any other accessibility requirements. There is a mixture of seated and standing at most events, but if you require a chair for accessibility reasons again please do let us know [email protected]
Children
This is a family-friendly event, and children are welcome. Please book a ticket for every attendee, including babies in pushchairs. Check individual events for more information on child-appropriate content.
Weather
Events take place both indoors and outdoors, and will go ahead whatever the weather. We encourage umbrellas for the street performances in the event of rain, warm clothes and sensible footwear, and regular breaks indoors at the many businesses excited to greet you over the course of the event, if the weather is very cold.
Ticket Cancellations
If you can no longer attend, please release your ticket through Headfirst to ensure your spot can be offered to others. Many workshops have limited capacity. For questions or further information, email [email protected]. Ticket holders will receive additional event details via email.
‘This event is subject to licensing and site permissions approval.’
About This Project
Compass Presents are a local independent arts company. Working closely with Bristol’s diverse communities, Compass’ work seeks to re-present cultural gems, imbuing them with immediacy and relevance through live elements, such as dance, circus, or projection mapping. Compass often works with cult and archive film to create expanded cinema experiences. They also create promenade theatre performances, interactive playthings, and experimental film edits, as well as producing stages and installations for festivals.
Stokes Croft Calling is the result of an in-depth consultation process with businesses and communities on Stokes Croft. The cultural gem is The Croft itself! And its stories and unique character will be brought to life by bespoke performances and interactive activities, designed to unpack all the richness and complexity of this neighbourhood.
Stokes Croft Calling is being delivered as part of the City Centre and High Streets Culture and Events Programme, funded by Bristol City Council and the West of England Combined Authority. The initiative aims to attract more visitors to the City Centre, boosting local businesses and the economy.
The project has been created in partnership with the businesses on the street, and in consultation with local people. All of the artists and creative team have direct links to Stokes Croft, either historical or current, and for all of us it has been a huge honour to be able to work creatively with the legacy of The Croft.
For press or marketing enquiries please contact [email protected].
