What a sweltering start to August! All I seem to be craving at the moment is seafood and Margaritas, which sounds fine and dandy until I remember what an expensive habit that would be. If anyone would like to do a prawns & margs deal for summer, I’ll be at the front of the queue.

As you’d expect for a month with (hopefully) good weather and a bank holiday, there are plenty of festivals, snazzy dinners and other fun events to keep yourself busy. Let me know what you end up going to over on Instagram or whatnot, I love being nosey!

Oh and if you find this roundup handy, you can choose to buy me a cuppa to show your appreciation if you like – I’m always chuffed when anyone does!

News

It’s a good month for beer lovers, not only is the brilliant East Bristol Brewery Trail back for the bank holiday weekend (24th & 25th Aug), but the following weekend sees the return of Bristol Craft Brew Festival. If you reckon you can do two big beer weekends on the bounce, go for it!

Coming up in September is an end of summer party in Wapping Wharf on Friday 6th, followed by Bristol Coffee Festival at Bristol Beacon on Sat 14th – a date for the diary if you’re a big coffee conoisseur!

Oh and congratulations to the Bristol restaurants who made it on to the list of Britain’s 100 Best Local Restaurants 2024 from the Good Food Guide: Caper and Cure, Noah’s and Tare Bistro. Other local inclusions included Upstairs at Landrace and The Scallop Shell in Bath, and Root in Wells.

Festivals & celebrations

Whether you want to slurp your way around dozens of ales, hit up a food market or meet fellow foodies, here are the events you should add to the calendar:

• Tue 6th – She Drinks Beer at the Kings Head (free to attend)
• Fri 9th – Chow Down Fridays at Paintworks (free entry)
• Sat 10th – Latino Fest at Beeses (free entry)
• Sun 11th – Food & Drink Festival at Old Down Estate (£5)
• Sat 24th – Bristol Vegan Fayre at Document (£5)
• Sun 25th – Drams & Drums at The Milk Thistle (Free entry)
• Fri 30th – Sat 31st – Bristol Craft Brew Festival at Document (£50)

Dinners

Give yourself something to look forward to by signing up for one of these slap-up meals:

• A Feast for Everyone at Beeses (Thu 8th, free entry)
• Rioja wine tasting diner at The Clifton Sausage (Thu 26th, £75)
• Dinner in the Dark at The Lost & Found (Fri 27th, £44.95)
• Kenya X Kelston – A Supper Club by Park Farm (Thu 29th, £10)
• COR x Wiper and True (Sat 31st, details TBC)

Tours, tastings & classes

Impress your mates with some new skills or knowledge – you could end the month knowing more about natural cider, making chocolates or Bristol’s local vineyards…

• Wines of Portugal tasting at Cave (Tue 6th, £35)
• Womens Whiskey Night: Whisky v Mezcal at Spirited (Wed 7th, £25)
• Gin Lover’s Masterclass at Psychopomp (Fri 9th, £30)
• Saturday Introduction to Wine with Lunch at Hotel du Vin (Sat 10th, £110)
• Vietnamese cookery class at Little Kitchen (Sat 10th, £73)
• Orange wine tasting at Native Vine (Sat 10th, £25)
• Wapping Wharf Street Food Tour (Sat 10th, £30)
• Oysters and Fizz at Cave (Sat 10th)
• Hop Union Brewery tour (Sun 11th, £25)
• The CWR Rum Club feat. Brugal Rum (Mon 12th, £25)
• Mastering Pasta class at Little Kitchen (Wed 14th, £85)

• Caribbean rum tasting & snacks at Spirited (Wed 14th, £30)
• Pour Decisions wine tasting at KASK (Wed 14th, £5)
• Cheese & Wine tasting at Averys with L’affinage du Fromage (Thu 15th, £35)
• Untamed: The Secrets of Natural Cider Making (Thu 15th, £13.50)
• Totterdown Wine Club: Iberian Holiday (Thu 15th, £25)
• How to cook the perfect steak class at The Pony Chew Valley (Fri 16th, £75)
• Middle Eastern Cookery with Alexis John (Sat 17th, £95)
• Speciality Coffee Brewing Masterclass with Odd Kin Coffee (Sat 17th, £50)
• Bread Masterclass at Little Kitchen (Sat 17th, £87)
• Limeburn Hill Vineyard Tour and Tasting (Sun 18th, £20)
• Vin Jaune & Comté Evening at Cave (Tue 20th)

• Whisky tasting with Compass Box at Spirited (Wed 21st, £25)
• Oh Sugar! Sweet wine tasting at KASK (Wed 21st, £35)
• The Ultimate Rum Experience at Industry Bar (Thu 22nd, £30)
• Bristol Wine Tasting Experience Day at The Square Club (Sat 24th, £99)
• Wapping Wharf Street Food Tour (Sat 24th, £30)
• Cook Root classic dishes with Rob Howell (Sat 24th, £95)
• Wapping Wharf Gourmet Food Tour (Sat 24th, £60)
• Tapas & Pintxos cookery class at Cooking It (Tue 27th, £70)
• Whisky Lover’s Masterclass with Circumstance (Thu 29th, £30)
• Peruvian cookery class at Cooking It (Fri 30th, £75)
• Gin Lover’s Masterclass at Psychopomp (Fri 30th, £30)
• Truffles & pralines class at Zara’s Chocolates (Sat 31st, £55)
• Hotspots & Hidden Treasures food tour (Sat 31st, £60)
• How to use your store cupboard cookery class at The Pony Chew Valley (Sat 31st, £95)
• Wapping Wharf Street Food Tour (Sat 31st, £30)

New places to visit

There’s been a flurry of announcements for new places opening recently!

First up, Mayflower have confirmed their new location in Broadmead and said they’ll be opening soon, so keep your eyes peeled!

The team behind TukTuck and Dangun are bringing a taste of Seoul to Whiteladies Road in the form of Pocha Bristol, while the couple behind Bokman will be opening Dongnae shortly on Chandos Road.

The Pukka Peacock are bringing Indian-inspired dishes to Brislington, and The Crafty Egg will be opening a huge new cafe in the former Wetherspoons on Church Road in Redfield/St George (I never know where one ends and the other begins)

In terms of pop-ups, The Winkle Picker are back at The Scrandit on Christmas Steps for most of August, and KASK and Lost and Grounded Brewers are collaborating on a pop-up bar at the Olympics fan park/outdoor screen in Quakers Friars. The bar is called The Egg & Spoon and will be serving up natural wines, spritzes, beers and cheese/charcuterie boards – cute!

Recently opened in Bristol are the huge new Ritorno Lounge on the harbourside, and a branch of the hot chocolate cafe chain Knoops on Clifton Triangle.

Thank you to the people who have shouted me a coffee to say thanks or signed up as a subscriber – these blogs take frickin’ ages to put together so being able to get myself a treat from what you’ve chucked in the post really gives me the warm and fuzzies.

That’s it for this month, let me know what you’re planning on booking over on Twitter or Threads, see what I’m eating on Instagram or see the latest local food news by following A Life Less Organised on Facebook.

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