Events

Be amongst the first people on the planet to experience our latest children's book, The Dragon's Almanac
by coming to our book launch!

Hartcliffe City Farm
Lampton Avenue, BS13 0QH
Friday 26 July
11am-1pm OR 2pm-4pm

The Dragon's Almanac is aimed at 3-7 year olds and is full of interesting suggestions and ideas for creative, natural and cultural activities for families to enjoy together. This launch event will have opportunities for you to get creative, possibly get your hands a bit muddy, and also to listen to some of the book being read.

Drop-in any time during your booked session, either 11am-1pm or 2pm-4pm. Children must be supervised throughout this event and everyone, children and adults need to book a ticket even though they're free, we need to know numbers attending in advance please!

Jade the Dragon is the guardian and gardener at a farm. Her almanac encourages young people to explore nature, food and cultural traditions from all around the world through vibrant scrap-book style pages illustrated by Liv Rose Whitfield.

Inspired by the beautiful metal dragon sculpture at Hartcliffe City Farm in south Bristol, The Dragon’s Almanac is our second collaboratively written children’s book. It has been created broadly to appeal to 3-7 year olds and is intended as a resource to dip into throughout the year, rather than a storybook to be read in one go.

Young children from Hartcliffe and their grown-ups worked with Brave Bold Drama to lay the foundations for the this book, so it's only right it should be launched at Hartcliffe City Farm.

This event is free to attend, but you have the option to pre-order your own copy of the book at a cost of £5, and the book will be ready for you when you attend this event.

The book will also be available to purchase for £5 at the event. If this cost of this book is prohibitive but you would still like some, some free copies will be available at the event thanks to a subsidy from Hartcliffe City Farm.

Please dress appropriately for outdoor play. Puddles and mud could be a thing!

ROOT is a festival of outdoor family theatre created by our co-artistic director Paul Lawless, happening at:

Boiling Wells Amphitheatre
Boiling Wells Road

Bristol BS2 9XY

Every month throughout June, July and August, ROOT Festival will host a different show,
all on the same Boiling Wells Amphitheatre site, which is the sister site of St Werburgh's City Farm.

All shows will be performed at 11am and 2.30pm

LIMITED AVAILABLITY, booking early is advised!

"Intelligent comedy and deliciously humorous verse kept the young audience enthralled, but not scared.

Witty & dark-humoured, a highly original show."

Edinburgh Fringe Review

"An excellent performance."

Buxton Fringe Review

Sticky Ends is an energetic, funny and often surreal improv show for family or school audiences that riffs of the form of cautionary tales.

Its intention is to make an absolute mockery of the tradition of heavy moralising that features so much in children’s theatre.

The show’s length is flexible; it can be between 30-60 minutes depending on requirements. It can be pure improv from audience suggestions or include a mix of pre-rehearsed stories and songs also in the cautionary tale format.

The show has exciting and playful opportunities for audience participation throughout, and the show culminates in an improvised song.

Our favourite improvised story to date remains a story called: Don't Throw Yoghurt On The Dog.

Become an art detective!

Meet Agents Kahlo and Dali from the Company of International Artists and go on investigative art missions around Bristol Museum & Art Gallery!

Choose from three totally free family art trails, available whenever Bristol Museum & Art Gallery on Park Street is open. Check opening times here.

These art trails can also be completed without attending the museum in person.

Trails are most suitable for families with children aged 6+.

Click images to find out more!

Extraordinary Streets: Stockwood

a community sound walk for Stockwood, by Stockwood

Our latest sound walk will take you on a range of short strolls around Stockwood in south Bristol.
As you walk, listen in to the stories and memories of Stockwood people, mixed with sounds of Stockwood people at work and play.

Featuring spaceships, snail races, heart-stopping rugby matches and much more besides!

This sound walk is available at all times, and is a self-led experience.

There are three trails around Stockwood to choose from, each one beginning at
Stockwood Square, Hollway Road, BS14 9PG

Download the sound walk and the route maps here.

Once you have downloaded the sound walk, you don't need to use mobile data to experience the sounds. Just bring headphones that work with your mobile phone. 

This sound walk is hosted on a free sound walk app called Echoes, which requires no roaming data provided you have already downloaded the app and this sound walk before setting out.

This walk is geo-located meaning you need to be in specific places in Stockwood to hear the sound. It covers fairly easy paved terrain. We have provided postcodes for all the sound locations in the map. If you need to take an alternative route to the one we have suggested, the sound will still play for you.

There is free street parking in the area, and toilets are available when Mario's Cafe is open (but please support them if you use their facilities). Quotes from the stories are also displayed at the new pocket park outside Stockwood Library, where you are encouraged to sit, relax and enjoy the plants.

This project is being delivered as one of the activities under the City Centre and High Streets Recovery and Renewal Programme, funded by Bristol City Council and the West of England Combined Authority’s Love our High Streets project.

Designed and produced by Brave Bold Drama.

Original artwork seen on the Echoes app by Amy Hutchings.

Sound design by Gill Simmons.

If you don't use smartphones, this sound walk will also be available to borrow in CD format from Stockwood Library in late December 2023. Also available in the library will be large font transcripts of the content and audio descriptions of the accompanying artwork.

We have also published an A4 book containing all four of our sound walks around Bristol, featuring maps, route guidance and technical support. This is available from our online shop here.

Extraordinary Streets: Withywood
a free sound walk showcasing the creative writing skills of BS13 people

We have also published an A4 book containing all four of our sound walks around Bristol, featuring maps, route guidance and technical support. This is available from our online shop here.

The Saxons to the Seventies:
a free sound-walk within Manor Woods Valley, Bishopsworth, Bristol

Discover the amazing hidden history of Manor Woods Valley, a small patch of ancient woodland in Bishopsworth. Listen in to moments of the wood's history from the Saxons to the Seventies retold with humour and song.

Circular route just under one mile, lasts approx 45 mins. Some hills.

Content is appropriate for children aged 8+ to adult due to the concept and length of the experience. One sound spot features a bomb explosion.

You can enjoy this sound walk at your own pace free of charge at any time. This is a self-led experience.

Route starts opposite St Peter's Rise Convenience Store, BS13 7LU

We are also provided a GUIDED WALK of this sound walk as part of Bristol Walk Fest on Sat 11 May at 11am.

Limited spaces available so please book in advance.

The sound walk is hosted on a free app called Echoes. You can download the app and then the walk via the links below. Once you've downloaded the walk, you can access it without needing to use mobile data on your phone.

"Sound spots" we've made that animate the history of the woodland have been added to certain waypoints on the walk. When you're at that spot in the walk the sound will play automatically.

We advise you enjoy our sound-walk through headphones. If coming with children who don't have their own phone, we advise the use of headphone splitters so an adult and child can listen together.

The walk is circular, just under one mile, and is on varying terrain with some hills. It is part paved and part woodland, so sturdy footwear is recommended. 

You can access this walk on the 75 bus, getting off just past Bishopsworth Library. The entrance to Manor Valley Woods is opposite St Peter's Rise Convenience Store, 6A St Peter's Rise, BS13 7LU.  Dogs on leads are welcome. There is street parking near the start of the walk.

This sound walk has been funded by a Magic Little Grant from Localgiving and the Neighbourly Community Fund, and was made in 5 days.

We have also published an A4 book containing all four of our sound walks around Bristol, featuring maps, route guidance and technical support. This is available from our online shop.

Enjoyed this sound walk? Want to know more about the history of Hartcliffe & Withywood, not just Manor Woods Valley? Listen to "Hartcliffe, Bristol", a 14 minute audio history of the wider area, made by Gill Simmons,  Artistic Director of Brave Bold Drama. which was first shared as part of an art exhibition called Centre of Gravity in Bristol in 2020.

Wild Words

This sound walk takes you through the beautiful Badock's Wood in Southmead, and features 10 sound-filled spots featuring sounds of the woodland, rhythms the children made there, local history and wild imaginings inspired by the woodland.

We worked with young people aged 7-12 between September and December 2021 to create a aound walk around Badock's Wood, a nature reserve in North Bristol. This was a partnership project with Mud Pie Explorers Forest School and Southmead Development Trust.

This sound walk is free to access at any point, and is a self-led experience. 

Route starts outside the entrance to the Greenway Centre, Doncaster Road, BS10 5PY

The audio uses a free sound walk app called Echoes, which requires no roaming data provided you have already downloaded the app and the audio walk before setting out. 

This walk is geo-located meaning you need to be in specific places in Badock's Wood to hear the sound. It covers some steep terrain and there is some shallow open water in the woods. Free parking and toilets are available at The Greenway Centre, Doncaster Road, BS10 5PY. Please contact the Greenway Centre HERE for any further guidance on directions or facilities.

We have also published an A4 book containing all four of our sound walks around Bristol, featuring maps, route guidance and technical support. This is available from our online shop here.