“It will help to make different sorts of people feel welcome”

Kirstie McCrum Network Content Editor

05:00, 14 May 2025

A general view up Stokes Croft(Image: Zoe Glascow)

It might be better known for the bonfires at Turbo Island or the party destinations like Lakota, but one of Bristol’s coolest streets is now trying to attract more families. Free family days are set to run throughout summer on Stokes Croft to highlight the city’s creative heart.

Arts organisations and community groups are putting on the days in following the success of last autumn’s Stokes Croft Calling festival. The series of free family-friendly offers kick off at the end of the half term holiday on Sunday, June 1, from 12pm to 4pm.

Local arts organisation Compass Presents worked with businesses and residents to create last autumn’s festival and now are supporting them to create a sustainable offer for families on the street.

The event opens at BIMM Bristol (Moon Street), where audiences can enjoy a rendition of the autumn festival’s crowd-favourite – characters from Banksy’s iconic Mild Mild West mural, brought to life in a playful performance featuring riot police and a molotov-wielding teddy bear. This will be followed by Capoeira performance, blending music, martial arts and audience participation.

There will also be a heritage story walk led by local artist and resident Kabbo Hue Ferdinand, taking in local sites that deepen understanding about Afrikan and Caribbean contributions to the area. Kabbo will also be leading a drumming and story circle for kids in the garden of local bar The Canteen below Hamilton House, where he is based.

There’ll be a Paint Jam for people to drop in and paint BIG on boards or walls and take their own artwork home, happening in the courtyard of community hub PRSC, as well as exclusive offers in restaurants, takeaways and retail, especially for participants. With everyone starting together at BIMM at 12.30pm, audiences can then choose between a range of activities on the street, allowing visitors to pick and mix which they attend at their own pace, until 4pm.

‘Sense of identity’

Compass Presents founder and director Tara Sachdeva says: “It’s been wonderful to have the opportunity to deepen our work with local residents and businesses and work together to think up initiatives that will keep bringing families back to the area. I think everyone can see the mutual benefits of local residents and their children participating more fully in the rich tapestry that is the Croft!”

Local resident and artist Mike Stuart says: “I think the Family Days will help create a sense of identity – of Stokes Croft as the local high street – and the more different sorts of people feel welcome, the more it will bring the street to life.”

Full details of the Stokes Croft Family Days can be found at visitstokescroft.co.uk. All events are free with a refundable deposit but attendees must book for the Capoeria opening activity.

Updates are also being provided via the Compass Presents accounts on Facebook and Instagram. Stokes Croft Family Days is a Compass Presents production being made possible thanks to the support of many Stokes Crofts businesses, artists, and residents, and funding from Bristol City Council and the West of England Combined Authority through their City Centre and High Streets Culture and Events Programme.

The production’s creative director is Tara Sachdeva, the marketing and commsdirector is Charlotte Harman, and the event support producer is Amber-Ruth Watson.