Simple Things Festival returns to Bristol on 8 November 2025 with its most ambitious edition yet—an all-day, multi-venue celebration of boundary-pushing music curated by Crack Magazine, Team Love, and Bristol Beacon.
Bristol’s beloved Simple Things Festival is back for its 11th edition, and it’s shaping up to be a genre-defying, city-spanning celebration of contemporary music culture. Taking place on Saturday 8 November 2025, this year’s event promises a full day of sonic exploration across some of Bristol’s most iconic venues, with a lineup that fuses post-punk, experimental electronics, rap, rave, and everything in between.
Curated and produced by a powerhouse trio—Crack Magazine, Team Love, and Bristol Beacon—Simple Things 2025 is more than a festival. It’s a statement of intent: to champion the bold, the strange, and the future-facing.
Headlining the main room at Bristol Beacon are Dry Cleaning, whose spoken-word post-punk has earned them cult status and critical acclaim. Frontwoman Florence Shaw’s deadpan delivery and poetic lyricism will echo through the venue’s world-class acoustics in what’s sure to be a standout set.
Other highlights from the first wave include:
These New Puritans – guitar experimentalists with a flair for the cinematic
Tunde Adebimpe – the TV On The Radio frontman brings his solo magic to Bristol
Mechatok – hyperpop-adjacent electronics from the Drain Gang affiliate
Iglooghost – a master of deconstructed beats and mind-bending visuals
Rich(ard) Dawson – folk, doom, and operatic storytelling collide in his singular sound
Factory Floor – live techno minimalism at its most hypnotic
The Orielles, Smerz, Jawnino, Ditz, and Decius round out a bill that’s as eclectic as it is electric
This year also sees the return of the Nyege Nyege Tapes showcase, bringing the raw, rhythmic energy of Uganda’s most vital label to the Bridgehouse at Bristol Beacon. And in a twist that only Simple Things could pull off, Steve Davis—yes, the six-time World Snooker Champion—will curate and DJ a selection of analogue synth oddities and leftfield gems.
Expect sets from rising stars like Lucy Gooch, Hotline TNT, Rachika Nayar, The Zawose Queens, and Upchuck, with more names to be announced soon.
Simple Things will once again take over five stages at Bristol Beacon, as well as Strange Brew, The Sportsmans, Rough Trade, The Christmas Steps, and the Bristol Megascreen—the latter boasting a 19m x 15m cinema screen for immersive A/V sets.
The festival also includes a Friday night opening concert (Daniel Avery + Scaler), afterparties at Strange Brew and The Love Inn, and a Sunday closing show with Joep Beving at Lantern Hall.
Tickets are on sale now via simplethingsfestival.co.uk with prices starting around £60. With its reputation for selling out and a lineup this rich, early booking is highly recommended.
Simple Things 2025 is a love letter to Bristol’s underground spirit and a showcase of where music is heading next. Whether you’re there for the post-punk poetry, the club chaos, or the sheer joy of discovery, this is one for the calendar. Come for the music, stay for the magic.