Bristol Beer Week
Terrific tap takeovers, talks and tastings in the first of what will become an annual event. Other highlights included a celebration of women brewers, cask vs keg battles, an evening with Adrian Tierney-Jones, author of 1001 Beers You Must Try Before You Die; and a Bristol beers against the world challenge.
Bristol Proms
Another inaugural event that will hopefully be making a second appearance next year. The Bristol Proms was officially launched by Lawrence Llewellyn-Bone ringing Great George bell in the Wills Tower and featured Classic FM broadcasting live from the Old Vic, a virtuoso performance from Nicola Benedetti (below) and an audience at the Watershed watching a live piano concert filmed from dozens of angles. There was even almost a fight in the stalls during Handel’s Messiah.
Gromit Unleashed
£2.3 million was the final total raised for Bristol Children’s Hospital when 81 full-size Gromit sculptures, a few smaller ones and a couple of pieces of artwork were sold at auction. It followed a summer which saw Bristol go bonkers for the five-foot pooches, designed by everyone from Raymond Briggs to Pixar. Planning is already underway for a Shaun the Sheep trail in 2015.
Make Sundays Special
If you wanted to sit down in the middle of Baldwin Street and eat your Meat & Bread pork roll, you could. If you didn’t fancy sitting down on the road, there were sofas. There were choirs, there was dancing, there was sport. Mayor George Ferguson’s big idea brought a completely different feel to the city centre and led to Corn Street and Small Street being closed to traffic at weekends.
Upfest
Upfest once again took over North Street and its environs for one weekend of some of the world’s best street artists descending on Bristol. One of the most stunning works was done on the former Odeon cinema on Winterstoke Road in Bedminster Down, now the Redpoint Climbing Centre. Take a bow, DALeast.