Few cities in Britain carry a cultural identity as strong as Bristol’s - and Forwards Festival has quickly become its annual showcase. Now in its fourth year, the festival has grown out of the slightly uncertain promise of its early editions into something mature, distinctive, and full of character. While Bristol is no stranger to music festivals, there has always been a question of what kind of large-scale city weekender Clifton Downs might support. This year feels like the answer: a weekend that embraces the city’s eclecticism, celebrates its radical history, and proves itself as a destination event in its own right.
Inclusivity defines the atmosphere from the outset. The site layout is designed with accessibility in mind, and the evidence is everywhere: wheelchairs and mobility aids move with ease, prams navigate the pathways without obstruction, and people of all ages settle into the weekend’s rhythm. Children dart around between groups of twenty-somethings stretched out on the grass. Couples in their sixties set up fold-up chairs, while teenagers press themselves up against the barriers, discovering new bands with wide-eyed intensity. The result is a festival that feels open to all - something that many larger events still struggle to achieve.
The musical breadth is equally striking. Saturday sees Mercury Prize winners English Teacher deliver their thoughtfully textured indie-rock. Their set is understated but magnetic, a band comfortable enough to let the songs breathe without forcing the moment. Nilüfer Yanya follows with minimalist guitar lines and airy vocals, casting an intimacy over the Downs that belies the scale of the crowd. In a festival world often dominated by spectacle, acts like these provide a refreshing respite - a reminder that stillness can command as much attention as volume.
That spectacle however soon arrives in the form of Confidence Man. Bursting onto the stage, it’s easy to see why the duo have become so well known for their explosive hits and synchronised routines. Their disco-pop energy is irresistible, knowingly theatrical, and impossible to ignore.
Smiles emanate from the crowd as Ezra Collective keep the energy high.Their blend of jazz, Afrobeat, and funk has long made them one of the most vital live acts in the UK, and their Forwards appearance was no exception. Mentioning their early days performing at The Canteen, the band share their soft spot for Bristol - and it is very much reciprocated.
As dusk falls, Orbital set highlights why they remain such enduring figures in electronic music. Their visuals flood the Downs in light, a swirl of abstract patterns and cultural flashpoints that turned the stage into something closer to a cinematic installation. During ‘Satan’, the screens cut to jarring images of Donald Trump and Tommy Robinson, a stark reminder that Orbital’s political bite has always been embedded in their rave euphoria. Sounding as vital as ever, their set is a reminder to the audience that rave culture is not a passing phase but a foundation stone of British music, and still a platform for resistance.
Barry Can’t Swim closes the first night with forward-facing optimism. His fusion of house grooves with live instrumentation lifts the music beyond club tracks into something symphonic. Where Orbital looked back to the roots of rave, Barry points towards the future, embodying the confidence of a new generation of producers.
Sunday leans more explicitly into heritage as Fabio & Grooverider with The Outlook Orchestra stage a sweeping history of drum ’n’ bass, from its jungle roots to its present-day iterations. Their collaboration demonstrates just how far the genre has travelled - music once confined to pirate radio and basement raves now performed with orchestral backing in the open air.
The Silhouettes Project brought a different kind of legacy-building. The collective, a platform for emerging UK hip hop voices, filled the space with collaborative spirit, each MC and singer passing the mic in a way that felt more like a community gathering than a festival set. It is raw and unpolished in the best sense, a reminder of the talent bubbling beneath the mainstream.
When Olivia Dean takes the stage, the mood of the Downs shifts. There’s a glow in her voice and in her smile, a generosity that makes her set feel less like a show and more like a gathering. The songs carry a soulful clarity, but what lingers is the happiness they create - children clapping in time, people hugging and singing along - a field gently moving together. It’s a performance that transforms the crowd into a community, joy spreading not through grand gestures but through the small, shared moments she inspires.
While the music and sunshine has cast a joyous haze across the day, there is a tinge of sadness as the realisation sets in that American superstar Doechii will not be present. Having pulled out just days before the festival, it was left to none other than our knight (DJ) in shining armour (a Chopova Lowena skirt) to save the day: Nia Archives.
Bringing the mood back to celebratory, she delivered a drum ’n’ bass set that confirmed her growing reputation as one of the most exciting young figures in UK dance music. She declares she’s just been through a breakup - and yet here she is on top of the world (or at the very least at the top of Bristol city).
The Last Dinner Party follow, providing one of the weekend’s most theatrical moments. “This is our first festival headline,” they announce as they command the crowd, closing out the second stage with style and substance. Having led the boycott of Victorious Festival earlier in the weekend due the silencing of The Mary Wallopers on the genocide in Palestine, the band take a moment to reflect. “Thank you Forwards, thank you Bristol for being on the right side of history. And for not supporting genocide, for not supporting the famine… Thank you for your compassion. Thank you for using your voice. Thank you for not being scared. Free Palestine.”
Then comes our newly appointed headliner: Jorja Smith. Moving with ease between sultry R&B and soaring pop moments, her set is the emotional core of the weekend. Holding the crowd effortlessly, her smooth vocals wash over the downs in a joyous end to a truly wonderful weekend.
Since its inception, Forwards has understood that Bristol’s culture is as much about the community and activism as it is about the arts. Embedding this in the programming and identity of the festival is what truly sets it apart from other festivals, eg. it’s London counterpart All Points East. This year’s talks were among the most compelling yet. A panel reflecting on the legacy of the Bristol Bus Boycotts of 1963 drew a large audience, placing the struggles for racial equality in direct dialogue with the present. It was a reminder that festivals can be more than escapism: they can be platforms for memory, education, and inspiration.
On the main stage, Zara Sultana delivered a speech that blended political urgency with festival energy. Speaking directly about the climate crisis, inequality, and the power of collective action, she drew cheers that were as loud and sustained as those for many of the performers. It was a striking gesture of what Forwards aims to do differently - to make space for politics not as a sideshow but as part of the cultural fabric.
By the time the final crowds drift from the Downs, Forwards feels like a festival entirely at ease with itself. No longer an emerging newcomer or a West Country imitation of London events, it has become an expression of Bristol’s character. Where other festivals often feel curated for playlists and partnerships, Forwards pulses with the city’s identity: eclectic, political, adventurous, and unapologetically independent.
It is, in every sense, Bristol’s festival.