Brisfest '11
Saturday, October 8, 2011 at 9:43PM 
Over the weekend of 23-25th September, LLoyds Ampitheatre in Bristol's city centre was transformed into a mini festival; Brisfest. In its fourth year, the popular music and arts festival successfully drew in crowds of all ages from all backgrounds.
Funded and organised by the charity collective The Bristol Festival Community Group, all proceeds from ticket sales go towards organising the event and back into the charity. Running over 3 days, attractions of the 
festival included; 'Over 500 bands, DJs, comedians, cabaret and circus performances as well as poetry, street art, dancers and a whole host of free workshops!'.
I personally attended the festival on Friday night to shoot Laid Blak headlining the main stage, and found myself back there on the Saturday to see everything the festival had to offer in the glorious weather.
I have to say Laid Blak put on an amazing show in their home city, receiving a hero's welcome from the enthusiatic crowd. On show were a diverse selection of bands and musicians with live graffiti being provided from the region's best and most prolific writers. A few of my favourite pieces I saw are included in this post. The line up of musicians and bands was very impressive, with personal favourites Laid Blak, Congo Natty, Nicky Blackmarket, Buggsy, and Rodney P & Skitz all making an appearance.
As an outsider in Bristol, I felt right at home as everyone was there to have a good time and no sense of hostility was present at any point I was there. It was refreshing to see a festival of this kind be pulled off so successfully with good vibes all round. From a photography and musical perspective, the crowds I witnessed were great and clearly having a good time.
It was good to bump into some old friends, and meet some new ones also. I definitely plan to attend this again next year. Bristol seems to be a melting pot of good things like this at the moment which is fantastic to see.
Images courtesy of Dom Fleming.
