There are festivals that feel like a collection of stages, tents and artists, and then there are festivals that feel like a city has temporarily relocated itself onto a hill.
FORWARDS is very much the latter.
As summer draws towards its inevitable conclusion, Bristol's Clifton Downs once again becomes a sprawling celebration of music, discovery, collaboration and community. And while the weather may have threatened to throw a few curveballs across the weekend, the music — and the unmistakable spirit of Bristol — proved more than capable of cutting through.
From symphonic experimentation and electronic pioneers to punk chaos, soul, drum and bass and one particularly emotional farewell, FORWARDS 2026 delivered two days of music that felt as diverse as the city itself.
SATURDAY
With music paused on the two main stages, the growing Saturday crowd was drawn towards the Arches, where Mitch Sanders provided a suitably atmospheric soundtrack. Heavy guitars, haunting minor chords and pulsing drumbeats were balanced by tender, heartfelt vocals, while the crowd responded with hoots and enthusiastic appreciation.
Over at the West Stage, Copenhagen's Erika de Casier arrived just as the sun decided to make an appearance. Her mellow blend of spoken word, rap and pop beats offered something altogether more laid-back, with The Garden standing out in particular. A modern take on a traditional folk song or nursery rhyme, it unfolded through intricate percussion, gorgeous vocals, dreamy melodies, cascading drums and the delicate shimmer of windchimes.
Then came something truly extraordinary.
Paraorchestra Kraftwerk drew us back up the hill towards the East Stage, where tens of musicians — all dressed in white — took their positions beneath the direction of a lone conductor in black.
What followed was symphonic bliss.
Thrilling, chilling and everything in between, this was an extraordinary set from an extraordinary collection of musicians. It was ambitious, unconventional and completely captivating. One of those performances that reminds you exactly why live music can still stop you in your tracks.
And then Goldie brought the party.
"We brought the sun out," he declared, before doing exactly what you'd expect: unleashing rousing drum and bass and getting the crowd moving. Two drummers worked at astonishing speed and precision while Goldie mixed and pulled everyone deeper into his world.
Natalie Williams joined the band for I Adore You, prompting cries of "I love this song!" from the crowd, while Inner City Life and Jungle Daze — currently enjoying a chart resurgence — provided further highlights.
The set ended with a simple but very Bristol sentiment:
"I fucking love Bristol."
It was hard to disagree.
Over at the West Stage, Maribou State delivered a set that felt particularly poignant given the rumours circulating around the weekend that this could be their final show together. Whether this really is the end remains to be seen, but there was certainly an emotional undercurrent to the performance.
At one point, the band and crowd seemed to become a single percussive organism, everybody playing their part in creating something dreamlike and uplifting. Their ability to meld electronic textures, percussion and soaring vocals into moments of euphoric dancing remains something special.
The singer effortlessly glided through several octaves as the crowd sang along, danced and soaked up the sunshine.
"This has been emotional," they told us.
It certainly felt that way.
Joy Crookes brought a different kind of warmth. Soulful and relaxed initially, the performance gradually opened into something more pop-driven and energetic, with recognisable songs sending the crowd into motion.
Crookes also demonstrated a genuine connection with her audience, stopping mid-song to check that someone in the crowd was OK. It was a small moment, but one that said a great deal about the atmosphere FORWARDS strives to create.
Then came one of Bristol's own musical institutions.
Tricky brought out the die-hard Bristol crowd, delivering a set that moved between mellow, hypnotic passages and moments of seriously heavy bass. Heads nodded, feet stamped and the atmosphere intensified as Tricky growled, "The world's insane," into the microphone.
Meanwhile, the Arches were becoming increasingly difficult to enter.
1-800 Girls had the tent absolutely pulsating, with people spilling out into the surrounding area and a mass of bouncing heads stretching beyond the confines of the stage.
But there was one performance that would come to define Saturday.
Before Self Esteem appeared on stage, Green Party co-leader Zack Polanski made a brief but powerful appearance, speaking about LGBT issues, Palestine and taxing the rich before encouraging the crowd to "CHANGE THE WORLD."
Then the lights went up.
"This is the very last time we are doing this show!"
Rebecca Lucy Taylor appeared on stage and quietly muttered "fuck" to herself.
It was immediately obvious why.
The reception from the Bristol crowd was enormous.
Her opening spoken-word performance was delivered in a quivering voice, emotion visibly breaking through as the audience roared their appreciation.
We love you, Rebecca Lucy Taylor.
What followed was a performance that was funny, outrageous, vulnerable, political, deeply personal and, at times, devastatingly moving.
There were bananas. There was the now-infamous 69. There were dancers and backing vocalists of extraordinary ability. There was a banana phone. There was singing into said banana phone. There was, eventually, the eating of a banana.
But beneath the humour was something far more profound.
Self Esteem's songs have always explored the complicated business of being a woman — female empowerment, sexual assault, sex, relationships, self-worth, saying goodbye to former lovers and the expectations placed upon women — and live, those themes hit even harder.
Taylor wore a T-shirt emblazoned with the words "They're only songs."
But this didn't feel like only songs.
Before Fucking Wizardry, Taylor introduced the musicians, dancers and singers around her, and the emotional weight of the occasion became impossible to ignore.
"Thank the universe the last show is in Bristol. Bristol crowds are my people. I've done my Thekla time."
That connection between artist and city ran through the entire performance.
At another point, the backing vocalists joined together arm in arm, creating a sisterhood of harmonious voices. The moment belonged to them, but the crowd embraced it completely.
By the time the set reached its conclusion, Taylor could barely get the words out, fighting back tears.
And so were we.
The final moments felt less like a concert and more like a communal act of catharsis.
For a little while, we were all worshipping at the church of Self Esteem.
And then, as if the evening hadn't already taken us through enough emotions, the Arches filled once more for a Crazy P DJ set, the tent packed beyond capacity as dancing continued long into the night.
SUNDAY
Sunday morning arrived beneath the threat of rain.
The kind of damp Bristol grey that makes you wonder whether the final day of a festival is about to become an endurance test.
It wasn't.
An early crowd gathered around the East Stage for Anaiis, a new name to many but an artist who immediately commanded attention.
Striking a bold figure against the elements, her orange guitar caught a rare burst of sunlight as she moved effortlessly between French and English lyrics, her sublime falsetto and rich alto tones creating an intensely immersive atmosphere.
Songs from Devotion & the Black Divine filled the arena, while behind her the stage glowed with the words:
"Freedom is an act of togetherness."
It was a fitting message for the day ahead.
One of the great joys of FORWARDS is its layout. Everything is a hop, skip and a dance away, meaning you can move between completely different musical worlds in minutes.
And so, within three minutes, we're at the wooden Arches stage catching the end of an electric performance from Ledbyher. The tent is overflowing, hands are raised and a smiling crowd sways to an infectious fusion of saxophone and rap.
Then came Princess Nokia, bringing the day's first truly massive gathering.
Naturally, that was also when the heavens opened.
But nobody moved.
If anything, the rain seemed to strengthen the collective resolve.
Then came Viagra Boys, and the atmosphere changed again.
Their set felt like a coiled spring finally being released into the crowd. Sports, Troglodyte and Ain't No Thief tore through the Downs with the band's trademark combination of punk aggression, absurdity and sheer physicality.
And then came a surprise.
Amy Taylor joined the band on stage, taking the role of Iris DeMent alongside Sebastian Murphy's John Prine for a brilliant live rendition of In Spite of Ourselves.
It was an unexpected and genuinely joyous moment.
They closed by inviting a fan onto the stage to play bongos during the frenetic Research Chemicals.
Because apparently that's how Viagra Boys do things.
Away from the headline stages, the Information Tent provided one of the weekend's most important reminders: sometimes the most exciting music is happening away from the biggest crowds.
Bristol's own Grandmas House had released their debut album Baby You're A Winner just days earlier, on 21 August, and drew a crowd of local gig-goers who were more than happy to bypass the bigger names elsewhere.
Yasmin Berndt's raspy, distinctive vocals cut through the tent with real force, providing another reminder of the depth of musical talent coming out of Bristol.
Then it was back to the main stage for Amyl and the Sniffers.
Calling this a performance would almost be underselling it.
It was a masterclass in raw punk rock.
No matter how large the crowd or how far from home they happen to be, Amyl and the Sniffers retain that same sense of danger and spontaneity that makes their live shows so compelling.
Amy Taylor is a whirlwind.
During Guided by Angels, she delivered the lyrics at seemingly twice the speed of the recorded version, declaring:
"I've got plenty of energy, it's my currency."
Who could argue?
Perpetual, potent punk rock delivered with a smile, a wink and a swift kick in the balls.
As darkness fell over Clifton Downs, FORWARDS Festival gathered for its final act.
This year's festival had been powered in part by cutting-edge hydrogen fuel, but the real energy source was something much simpler:
Bristol.
The entire festival seemed to converge on the main stage for Little Simz.
And if there was ever an artist who seemed perfectly suited to headline FORWARDS, this was it.
Simz told the Bristol crowd that the city already felt like home, and the response suggested that the feeling was very much mutual.
Every time you see Little Simz live, there is something remarkable about the precision of her delivery. The control, the musicianship, the confidence and the sheer breadth of her talent are difficult to ignore.
Here, in front of a Bristol crowd that had spent two days embracing everything from experimental classical music and electronic pioneers to punk, soul, rap and drum and bass, she seemed to absorb the devotion coming from the crowd and channel it straight back into the performance.
It was a fitting way to close the weekend.
Because that is ultimately what FORWARDS does so well. It celebrates the familiar while giving space to the unexpected. It brings established artists together with emerging talent. It allows you to discover something new one minute and stand in front of a genuinely extraordinary performance the next.
And somehow, despite the scale of it all, it retains a distinctly Bristol feel.
As the final notes disappeared into the night and the crowds began their descent from Clifton Downs, there was a sense that we'd witnessed something more than simply the final major festival weekend of the summer.
FORWARDS feels like a reset.
A celebration of the year's music before the bands disappear into the winter touring cycle and the hard graft begins again.
And if 2026 has proved anything, it's that Bristol knows exactly how to send summer off in style.
Words by Hannah King (Saturday) and Matt Barnes (Sunday)
Pics by David Broome
