Bristol

:This article is about the English city of Bristol. For other uses please see Bristol (disambiguation).

Arts, leisure and media

The city has two significant football clubs: Bristol City F.C. who play in Football League One and Bristol Rovers F.C. who play in Football League Two. The city is also home to a Rugby Union club currently known as Bristol Rugby, who recently won promotion to the Guinness Premiership, and a first-class cricket side, Gloucestershire C.C.C.

Related Topics:
Football - Bristol City F.C. - Football League One - Bristol Rovers F.C. - Football League Two - Rugby Union - Bristol Rugby - First-class - Cricket - Gloucestershire C.C.C.

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Each summer the grounds of Ashton Court to the west of the city play host to the Bristol Balloon Fiesta, a major event for followers of the sport of hot-air ballooning in Britain. The "Fiesta" draws a substantial crowd even for the early morning lift that typically begins at about 6.30 am and a fairground atmosphere is sustained throughout the day. A second mass ascent is normally scheduled for the early evening, again taking advantage of lower wind speeds.

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Ashton Court also plays host to the Ashton Court festival each summer, an outdoors music festival which used to be known as the Bristol Community Festival.

Related Topics:
Ashton Court - Ashton Court festival

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The city's principal theatre company, the Bristol Old Vic, was founded in 1946 as an offshoot of the Old Vic company in London. It has premises on King Street consisting of the 1766 Theatre Royal (400 seats), a modern studio theatre called the New Vic (150 seats), and foyer and bar areas in the adjacent Coopers' Hall (built 1743). The Theatre Royal is a grade I listed building and the oldest continuously-operating theatre in England. The Bristol Old Vic also runs a prominent Theatre School. The Bristol Hippodrome is a larger theatre (1981 seats) which hosts national touring productions, while the 2000-seat Colston Hall, named for the controversial local figure Edward Colston, is the city's main concert venue.

Related Topics:
Bristol Old Vic - Old Vic - Listed building - Bristol Hippodrome - Colston Hall - Edward Colston

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The music scene is thriving and significant. In particular, Bristol was the birthplace of a kind of English hip-hop music often called trip hop or the Bristol Sound, epitomised in the work of artists such as Tricky, Portishead and Massive Attack among many others. It is also the birthplace of drum n bass with notable bands like Roni Size/Reprazent and Kosheen. This music was part of the wider

Related Topics:
Hip-hop - Trip hop - Tricky - Portishead - Massive Attack - Drum n bass - Roni Size - /Reprazent - Kosheen

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Bristol Urban Culture scene.

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Bristol is home to a great many live music venues, of which the Old Duke is deserving of a special mention. Internationally recognised jazz and blues musicians currently active and/or resident in Bristol include Eddie Martin, Jim Blomfield and Andy Sheppard.

Related Topics:
Eddie Martin - Jim Blomfield - Andy Sheppard

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The Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery houses a collection of natural history, archaeology, local glassware, Chinese ceramics and art of a variety of periods. The Bristol Industrial Museum, on the dockside, shows local industrial heritage and operates a steam railway, boat trips, and working dockside cranes. The City Museum also runs three preserved historic houses: the Tudor Red Lodge, the Georgian House, and Blaise Castle House. The Watershed media centre and Arnolfini gallery, both in disused dockside warehouses, exhibit contemporary art, photography and cinema.

Related Topics:
Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery - Watershed media centre - Arnolfini gallery

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Stop frame animation films and commercials painstakingly produced by Aardman Animations and high quality television series focusing on the natural world have also brought fame and artistic credit to the city. It is where the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has its regional headquarters, and Natural History Unit. This was a key attraction to a number of independent media companies who located in the city, and in recent times have grown into a significant industry. Bristol is also the birthplace of the actor Cary Grant.

Related Topics:
Aardman Animations - BBC - Cary Grant

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Bristol is the home of a regional morning newspaper, the Western Daily Press, a local evening paper, the Evening Post and a weekly free newspaper, the Bristol Observer. A Bristol edition of Metro is distributed for free on buses in the area. The local listings magazine, Venue, is now published weekly after many years as a fortnightly publication. The Spark magazine (Since 1993) covers the surging interest in all things green and ethical.

Related Topics:
Newspaper - Western Daily Press - Evening Post - Bristol Observer - Metro - Venue

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Bristol indymedia is a resource for Bristols anarchist and activist community and it the 6th largest website associated with the city.

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