Latest news with #BristolHarbour
BBC News
21-07-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Bristol Harbour Festival 2025 draws huge crowds to city centre
Hundreds of thousands of people descended on Bristol's waterfront over the weekend for the city's biggest free festival. Organisers of this year's Bristol Harbour Festival described the event, held from 18 to 20 July, as a "resounding success". Hundreds of performers - 80% of whom are based in the city - took to the stage across the weekend, including headline act The Longest Johns. "The Harbour Festival 2025 was a bold, diverse and joyful celebration of everything that makes Bristol brilliant," said the organisers in a statement on Monday. As well as a huge range of music acts, live talks and other creative performances, visitors were also treated to views of Tall Ship Galeón Andalucía, which was docked in the harbour all weekend. Musical acts performed late into the evening against the iconic backdrop of Bristol's waterfront. The festival has a long history in Bristol, with the very first event held in 1971 as part of a fight by local campaigning groups to save the docks. In 1996 the harbour became the site of the first International Festival of the Sea, drawing in tall ships from international waters - a tradition that has continued for nearly 30 years. The team behind the festival said the event "transformed the harbourside into a mile-long cultural playground, featuring six unique zones bursting with live music, dance, circus and on-the-water spectacles". While much of the activity during the festival is now firmly based on dry land, elements such as the raft race have remained popular.
The Sun
13-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
The central Bristol hotel with riverfront restaurant and revamped rooms
THE Bristol Hotel, at the core of the city, is a small slice of tranquil, classic comfort, away from the hustle and bustle of the town centre. Here's everything you need to know about the hotel, from how much rooms cost to what to eat at the restaurant. 3 Where is the hotel? Right at the centre of Bristol, with its unique harbourside view, The Bristol is the ideal base for a getaway, with easy access to the city and its amenities. It is found just a 13 minute drive from the nearest train station, Bristol Temple Meads Railway station. What is the hotel like? The revamped art deco-style hotel is in a prime central location at the heart of Bristol is complimented by the friendly, helpful nature of its staff, as well as its chic, contemporary stylings. What are the rooms like? There are 187 rooms too choose from, and our comfy sixth-floor Queen deluxe room had plenty of space with a generous double bed and cracking views of the city's harbour. There are three tiers of rooms available, ranging from the Cosy room, to Deluxe room and finally the option of Suites. Each one is tastefully decorated, with a muted colour palette and pops of colour. Nespresso coffee machines and tea-making facilities are in rooms along with 55in Smart TV and fluffy dressing gowns and slippers. The en-suites are simple although the Temple Spa toiletries leave you smelling delightfully fresh. Rooms available starting from £110 a night. For more information, click here. 3 What is there to eat and drink there? The Bristol's River Grille restaurant with its floor-to-ceiling windows provides guests another opportunity to admire the lively harbourside. We kicked off with the tiger prawns, before duck cassoulet and cider-braised pork belly. The indulgent chocolate tart with orange sorbet and West Country cheeses rounded off the dinner perfectly. The hotel's atmospheric bar, Rick's, was great for a cocktail or two and the River lounge served up an especially tasty afternoon tea. What else is there to do at the hotel? The hotel has a gym and parking. But the barpacked harbourside is the obvious starting point to explore Bristol. From here, take a ten-minute stroll to the quirky St. Nicholas Market- crammed with food outlets and independent stalls selling everything you could possibly desire, from bongs to jewellery and vinyl. The historic Christmas Steps street is worth a climb before a five-minute walk to admire Banksy's Well Hung Lover in Frogmore Street. A dozen of his works are dotted around his home town. Just outside the city is the charming Clifton Village, with Brunel's mighty Suspension Bridge and epic views of the Avon Gorge. Is the hotel family friendly? Yes, The Bristol hotel offers family friendly rooms, interconnecting and suites, as well as child specific amenities upon request. Is there access for guests with disabilities? Yes, the hotel is accessible, with select rooms including accessible facilities, as well as lift access from the ground floor. Looking for a place to stay? For more hotel inspiration click here. 3
BBC News
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Bristol Birdman: Daredevils to 'fly' over harbour in new contest
Daredevils are set to "fly" as far as possible across a city's harbourside during a new event. Bristol is hosting its first Birdman competition on Sunday. The contest involves participants creating home-made machines or costumes to help them travel the furthest, before landing in the water. Birdman events have been staged across the world for 50 Peak-Payne, who is part of team from All-Aboard Watersports, has built a bird for the race. He said: 'We are expecting [it] to break as soon as it hits the water. It's a one-hit wonder - the test run is the final run. It will either work, or it won't'." Participants must propel themselves off a 4.5-metre-high (14ft) platform into the harbour, with the aid of a flying contraption that must be made from recycled the profit raised will go towards the Grassroots Communities programme of work. The charity aims to support young people in local communities by providing them with access to education, employment opportunities and teams - including businesses and charities to harbour masters and Sea Cadets - have contest is running between 10:00 BST to12:00 at Bristol Harbour, between The Cottage Inn and Bristol Marina.
BBC News
08-06-2025
- Health
- BBC News
DIY SOS star Mark Millar to walk with surgeon who saved his life
A television star who went through open-heart surgery is to walk alongside the surgeon who saved his SOS' Mark Millar suffered a heart attack while open water swimming in the sea at Clevedon earlier this year."The NHS gave me a second chance at life. I enjoy my free time and seeing friends, and life seems simple but it's very full now," he Millar will join others walking 10km around Bristol's harbour to raise money for the Bristol & Weston Hospitals Charity, with his surgeon Prof Gianni Angelini. Mr Millar said there were a few "red flags" in the run up to his heart attack that he dismissed as "aches and pains.""I was getting indigestion in the middle of the night, and I kept having numbness in my left arm which felt like I had an injection."I was also getting exhausted in the afternoons."When the heart attack happened, it felt "like a ratchet strap" around his Millar's life was saved by his friends and his inflatable swimming was told by surgeons at the Bristol Royal Infirmary's Heart Institute that he had cardiovascular disease and needed immediate surgery."It turns out it was hereditary, my dad died from a heart attack. "I could live on triple filtered water and lettuce leaves for the rest of my life and my body would still produce this cholesterol," he told BBC Radio Bristol. Mr Millar said he had been given a "second chance" by the surgeons who saved his life, and wanted to give something back."A 10k walk for me now is like running a marathon, but I've been given the chance to do this walk and I'm going to do it with my doctor," he Big Bristol Walk leaves from the Amphitheatre at 10:00 BST.
