5 Wonderful Things To Do In Bristol This Weekend (November 14-16)

The most magical time of year returns to Broadmead shopping district, with over 40 unique festive stalls packed full of gifts, treats, crafts, and more, at Bristol Christmas Market. Plus, every Thursday to Sunday, the Jäger Barn Bar will host live music from a variety of local performers, and keep an eye out for Santa himself, alongside elves on stilts, bubble-blowing soldiers, balloon artists, and Christmas choirs.

Clifton LitFest welcomes more than 70 speakers spanning politics, photography, memoir, protest and the future of storytelling, from November 14 to 16. Among the 50+ events are headline appearances from Kate Humble, Caroline Lucas, Peter Frankopan, Jonathan Dimbleby and Deborah Moggach. Plus, acclaimed photographer Martin Parr opens the festival on Friday evening with a rare autobiographical event, reflecting on his life behind the lens.

The oldest arts trail in Bristol returns, with artists’ homes and studios, as well as several community spaces, once more opening their doors to the public. The free Totterdown Arts Trail celebrates its 25th anniversary this weekend, with hundreds of local artists exhibiting everything from pottery and sculpture to handmade jewellery, prints, and textiles. If that wasn’t enough, a handful of free workshops are also being held across the weekend.

Here we go again! The sensational feel-good musical MAMMA MIA! is set to visit Bristol. From West End to global phenomenon, Judy Craymer’s ingenious vision of staging the storytelling magic of ABBA’s timeless songs with a sunny, funny tale of a mother, a daughter and three possible dads unfolding on a Greek island. Whatever age you are, you can’t help but have the time of your life at MAMMA MIA!

M&S closed its huge Broadmead department store in January 2022—replaced by the ‘department store with a difference’, Sparks—but couldn’t be kept away from the city centre. It’s back this week, at Cabot Circus, with a three-level location offering M&S Food, Fashion, Home & Beauty. You can look forward to a fresh market-style foodhall and one of M&S’s biggest beauty sections in the UK.