I’m in full festive cheer mode now – I’ve had my first mince pie and mulled beverage of the year, bedecked my halls with holly and ironed my sequinned reindeer jumper (only joking, I don’t even own an iron, grown up that I am).

Before you hibernate for Christmas week and drink your body weight in port, here are a few events which might tempt you out from your cosy nests. They’re proper good, I promise.

Check the Events Calendar if you’re in a rush.

News

Tickets are now on sale for the brilliant Belly Laughs – a series of comedy gigs in restaurants, bars & cafes across Bristol to raise money for Julian Trust. More dates & venues to be announced shortly, but see the first few here.

You can get a slap-up breakfast delivered to your door! Epic Breakfast sends out boxes in Bristol postcodes 1-8 which include pastries from Assembly Bakery and free range eggs from Chestnut Farm. They’ve got a 20% discount code WELCOME20 valid for purchase on Sunday – Thursday, all the way until Christmas (I’m not getting commission on this – or anything in this blog – I just like the idea). Woop!

Festival application season is here (and almost gone) – register your interest to take part in Bristol Food Connections 2019 here, or sign up to be part of the Dal Trail at February’s British Dal Festival here – all you need to do for the latter is create a special dal or pulse-based dish and put it on the menu during festival week, nice and easy!

Bristol Craft Beer Festival have announced that next’s year’s festival will once again be held in Lloyd’s Amphitheatre in the harbour, but is being moved forward to the weekend of 7-8th June 2019, rather than the usual mid September dates. Early bird tickets are now available here.

Main events

Some proper good times to get yourself along to…

St Nicks Festive Night Market (Friday 7th, free) – Wrap up warm and enjoy street food, mulled cider, music, late night shopping, carols, and a light show to commemorate 275 years of St Nicks. Lovely stuff.

Viva! Vegan Festival at Bristol Student Union (Sat 8th, £3 or £2 for students) – Over 90 stalls of plant-based food, clothes, ethical gifts and more. There will also be talks and live cookery demonstrations all day for people wanting to learn more about the vegan diet.

Bishopston Supper Club 8th birthday celebration (Sun 9th, £28) – A special dinner to celebrate 8 years of this well-loved supper club, and possibly their last event ever, noo!

Adventurous Eats at The Bank Tavern (Mon 10th/17th, £45) – several courses of decadent festive munch in a cosy pub setting. I’ve been to a few of these now and they’re nothing short of spectacular.

Almanac Supper Club at Alchemy 198 (Wed 12th, £26) –  This new supper club will be partly inspired by local food writer Lia Leendertz’s bestselling book, The Almanac: A Seasonal Guide to 2019. A sneak peek at the menu includes: beetroot muhammara dip, winter squash and hazelnut roast and potato and parsnip dauphinoise.

Christmas Captain’s Dinner on Brunel’s SS Great Britain (Thu 20th, £68) – If you’re looking to push the boat out (heh) this month, Brunel’s famous ship is hosting a decadent Victorian three-course dinner complete with entertainment.

Aron’s Deli supper club (Sat 22nd, £25) – 3 courses of traditional Jewish dishes, with a choice of starters, mains and desserts. These events only come around occasionally so are definitely worth your time & money!

Christmas Eve Nordic Dinner at Bristol Cookhouse (Mon 24th, £35) – six courses of lush Scandi fair including gravadlax, confit duck leg with Jansen’s Temptation and traditional rice pudding (vegetarian and vegan options are available). The Bristol Cookhouse is also doing dinners on Christmas Day and Boxing Day if you want to save yourself the hassle of cooking.

Tours, Tastings & Workshops

Learn something new this month – or maybe treat someone special to a new experience!

• Fri 7th – Introduction to Cider at Bristol Cider Shop, £20.
• Tue 11th – Christmas drip cake class at ANNA Cake Couture, £150
• Wed 12th & Thu 13th – Averys Wine Cellars Christmas Highlights Wine Tasting, £30.
• Thu 13th – British farmhouse cheese tasting at Two Belly, £25
• Sat 15th – Christmas Sweet making workshops at Little Kitchen, £40
• Sat 15th – Kimchi College: An introduction to fermenting vegetables, £15
• Sat 15th – South of the River Food Tour, £45
• Fri 21st – Christmas Special Craft Beer Tour, £25.

Beer + Cheese = Good Times. Credit: Two Belly

Christmas events

There are plenty of general festive events and Christmas markets to choose from this month, but some of the more food-centric or exciting markets (in my opinion) are:

• Thu 6th – Gloucester Road Christmas Street Party
• Sat 8th – Bristol Browsers Market on Gloucester Road with organic wine, local traders & mulled wine!
• Thu 13 & Fri 14th – Festive Feast at Finzels is a two-day street food extravaganza at the fire station on Temple Back (I’m really looking forward to this one)
• Sat 15th – Harts Bakery Christmas Market – a small but eclectic mix of stalls outside the bakery including wine, cider, cheese, pottery, plants and hot chocolate.
• I’d also thoroughly recommend the Harbourside Market (every Sat & Sun), and the Tobacco Factory Sunday Market – both brilliant for food and gifts!

I also enjoyed reading this guide to festive munch in Bristol recently, or there’s a nice family-friendly festive bucket list for those of you with little ones. Or I wrote this Bristol Food Gift Guide if that comes in handy!

NYE parties

As most NYE parties tend to be booze & music focused I’m going to refer you to this list of New Year’s Eve events for a more general idea of what’s on, otherwise here are four of my favourites:

• Tapas feast at Pata Negra – four courses of tapas, Cava on arrival and discounted entry to the after party at Noche Negra. Tickets £45.
• 80s Party at Tobacco Factory – the whole building (including Thali) will be taken over with DJs, performances and street food in the beer garden. Tickets £40.
• New Year’s Fiesta at Noche Negra – two hours of unlimited Cava (until 10pm), music and cocktails. Tickets £35.
• Small Bar New Year’s Eve party – £50 per ticket including 7 beers, a two-course meal and music.

Newbies

Some new places to look out for…

• Crying Wolf is a new cocktail bar opening soon on Cotham Hill.
• Oowee Vegan is now open on Baldwin St.
• Cocksure Brewing Co. have now opened their tap room in Totterdown (Fri 5-8pm, Sat 2-8pm).

• Urban Masala is now open a couple of doors away from sister restaurant Urban Tandoor on Small St.
• The Good Measure is a new bar from the team at Good Chemistry Brewing opening soon on Chandos Road in Redland.

That’s it for this year’s events – I’m aiming to do my usual Highlights of the Year post later in the month, so keep an eye out for that on here or here. Earlier editions always make for entertaining reading, you can read 2017, 2016, 2015 AND 2014 if you feel inclined.

Other good reads ( if I do say so myself)

• The Bristol Foodie Gift Guide
• Bristol’s Cosiest Pubs
• Where to treat yourself in Bristol

Thanks for reading, tell your mates and that, or say hello on Twitter or Instagram, it’s always nice to hear from you all!

Dates for the diary
(or check the Events Calendar)

• Wed 5th – Wine dinner with Chateau Musar at Averys
• Wed 5th – Christmas cookies class at ANNA Cake Couture
• Thu 6th – Wiper & True Takeover at TFRNV
• Thu 6th – Gloucester Road Christmas Party
• Thu 6th – Festive Evening at Windmill Hill City Farm
• Fri 7th – Music and Wine Night at Averys Wine Cellars
• Fri 7th  – Introduction to Cider at Bristol Cider Shop
• Fri 7th – St Nicks Festive Night Market
• Fri 7th – Left Handed Giant last tap room opening of 2018
• Sat 8th – Bristol Bites & Sights Tour
• Sat 8th – Viva! Vegan Festival at Student Union
• Sat 8th – Food for Christmas at Harts Bakery
• Sat 8th – Christmas Fayre on Royal York Crescent
• Sat 8th – One day brewing crash course at Bristol Brewery School
• Sat 8th – Southville Chocolate Festival 
• Sat 8th – Bristol Browsers Market on Gloucester Road
• Sat 8th – Cheese and wine tasting at Averys Wine Cellars
• Sun 9th – Bishopston Supper Club 8th birthday
• Sun 9th – The Drapers Arms 3rd birthday party
• Mon 10th – Festive Adventurous Eats at The Bank Tavern
• Tue 11th – Christmas drip cake class at Anna Cake Couture
• Wed 12th – Alchemy 198 presents the Almanac Supper Club
• Wed 12th – Christmas Treats Wednesday at Averys
• Wed 12th – Mezcal around Mexico at CARGO Cantina
• Thu 13th – Pizza pop-up evening at Mark’s Bread
• Thu 13th – British farmhouse cheese tasting at Two Belly
• Thu 13th – Christmas Treats Thursday at Avery’s
• Thu 13th – Pasta Slut Christmas cinema pop-up
• Thu 13- Fri 14th – Festive Feast at Finzels
• Fri 14th- Sun 16th – The Lime Kiln Winter Beer Festival
• Sat 15th – Harts Bakery Christmas Market
• Sat 15th – Artisan cheese & wine tasting at The Rummer
• Sat 15th – Saturday Baking for Kids at Cooking It!
• Sat 15th – Christmas Sweet making workshops at Little Kitchen
• Sat 15th – Gin Masterclass at The Rummer
• Sat 15th – Kimchi College at Every Good Thing
• Sat 15th – South of the River Food Tour
• Sat 15th – Bake your own Christmas bread course at Assembly Bakery
• Sat 15th – Clandesdiner supper club
• Sat 15th – East to West Food Tour
• Mon 17th – Festive Adventurous Eats at The Bank Tavern
• Wed 19th – Syrian Supper Club at The Bristol Cookhouse
• Thu 20th – Christmas Captain’s Dinner on Brunel’s SS Great Britain
• Thu 20th –  A Very Barrel-aged Christmas at Brewdog
• Thu 20th – Whisky & cheese pairing at Two Belly
• Thu 20th – New Bristol Brewery tap takeover at The Hillgrove
• Fri 21st – Winter Solstice storytelling & supper
• Fri 21st – Christmas Special Craft Beer Tour
• Fri 21st – Winter Solstice at The Bristol Cookhouse
• Sat 22nd – Aron’s Deli Jewish supper club
• Sun 23rd – Come Dine With Us at Malcolm X Community Centre
• Mon 24th – Nordic Dinner at Bristol Cookhouse
• Mon 31st – New Year’s Eve tapas feast at Pata Negra
• Mon 31st – Bottomless Cava and pintxos at Pata Negra
• Mon 31st – Small Bar New Year’s Eve party