Forwards Festival 2026

ORWARDS: an inner city music festival drawing the biggest names in international music to Bristol Downs. The festival aims to present high quality, diverse and heritage music acts alongside emerging artists from Bristol & beyond.

The festival presents a contemporary curation of music while paying homage to Bristol’s long standing history of being a music city. In addition, FORWARDS is more than just a music festival, it looks to challenge what metropolitan festivals can be today and how they can do good, from the inside out. The 2-day festival aims to harness the power of live events to bring people together for incredible music moments and lasting positive change.

At the heart of the festival is FORWARDS THINKING, a platform for year round social initiatives in Bristol, all through our partners, Big Team CIC and Team Canteen CIC. Alongside these partners is The Information, a dedicated space at FORWARDS for debate and understanding on today’s current affairs and cultural issues.