Bristol Harbour Festival

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Bristol Harbour Festival



Location(s)	Bristol Harbour
Years active
Date(s)	July
Genre
Website

The Harbourside, in Bristol, South West England, has hosted the Bristol Harbour Festival (now officially named the EDF Energy Bristol Harbour Festival — EDF standing for Électricité de France) for 35 years, with about 200,000 visitors attending live music, street performances and all sorts of live entertainments by choirs, DJs or jazz bands, among others. The festival includes music stages, a dance stage, street theatre performances, and water displays. A highlight of the festival is the Saturday Night Fireworks presentation. Most of the activities are held near the waterfront, so a significant part of the festival is connected with the seagoing vessels moored nearby.

The liveliest part of the festival is quayside, but the main attractions are, of course, seaside — with all the water displays, with tall ships from many countries, some of the Royal Navy's most famous vessels and hundreds of sailing ships and old-time boats of all kinds.

This event is now set to be the «South-West's biggest free festival» (according to a preview by Nowt2Do^[1]) and has largely inspired similar events across the Channel, such as Les jeudis du Port in Brest, Brittany, on the live music side, and a bunch of similar festivals across Western Europe, as it shows with the Fête Internationale de la mer et des marins (better known as Brest 2000/2004 etc.), held mid-July, every four years, since 1992 (see the external link below).

Bristol Harbour Festival celebrates the city's maritime heritage and the importance of Bristol's docks and harbour. The 2007 edition was held between 27-29 July, and the 2008 edition will be held 01-03 August (Friday through Sunday).