The Island

Once an old fire station then turned into a club called, funnily enough, The Old Fire Station, this amazing venue is currently home The Invisible Circus and club nights like Freakeasy and Carney Ville.
Not your average Saturday night out, this club is all about the glamour and drama of the circus, with a dress code of burlesque, fantasy, 30’s glamour and ringside looks — and those are just the performers!
Came here for a birthday night out and for the price of £12 not only saw live music but we learnt to swing dance, witnessed acrobatics and cabaret and saw a unicycling stripper! Amazing for an unforgettable night out with friends — pick a theme and dress to impress, sip drinks while sat in comfy sofas or head to the large outside space for some fresh air or a smoke.

Run by Artspace Lifespace, who ‘create solutions for problem properties’, the Island is swiftly becoming an essential stopping point on Bristol’s underground cultural map.
The Boneyard bar is open on Fridays and Saturdays, and there are occasional art and design exhibitions to take in, but what really draws in the crowds are the breathtaking Invisible Circus Nights. Debauched parties packed with eccentrically dressed guests feature acrobats suspended from the ceiling, fire-​eaters and a range of other carnivalesque delights. It’s worth keeping an eye open for them on Facebook or the Artspace Lifespace webpage (
) as they’re not always particularly well advertised and invariably sell out fast.
Once an abandoned police station, now a den of artsy inquity, the Island never fails to surprise.

The Island is absolutely without a doubt my favourite venue in Bristol.
The Island is run by Artspace Lifespace, an artist led initiative that recycles vacant, under-​used and problem properties. They have sone a stunning job at revamping this old fire station. The walls of the Boneyard Bar are painted a bright cerulean and their are some stencils by the art tart above the door and day of the dead artwork on the walls. Artwork dons all the walls and every event is done differently. The Island is a huge complex, not all of which opens up. For some of the larger events, stalls are built in the large courtyard. Every event I go to, the experience is different.
The Island is the HQ for The Invisible Circus, who undoubtedly put one of the most creative and interactive nights in the UK. I have seen the best fireshow, the best arial performance and had the best crumpets at the Island!
Its a fantastic space and worth keeping an eye out to see what nights are happening here, from the spectacular carnyville, heavy metal acid panto to klezmer craziness, the Island is an amazing creative hub in the heart of the City.

A brilliant venue for up and coming artists to use and forfill their creative talents. The spaces available are pretty good, from rehearsal rooms for bands to some quite large spaces for theatre groups to use to rehearse in. The price is extremely reasonable as well fo rent spaces.
The one downside is that if you rehearse late at night then the heating isn’t good, so wrap up warm. I’ll usually turn up with a t-​shirt, jumper, hoodie and coat as well as a scalf, hat and gloves, and if I stand still for 2 minutes i’ll still feel the cold!

The Island is a huge building located on Silver Street (kind of opposite Primark) and just next to the Grave Yard pub.
What it was originally used for I’m not sure but it is now used by the artistic folk in Bristol as rehearsal and performance space. They are currently undergoing a bit of a re-​organisation, which it desperately needed, but it’s a great space — the rooms are nice and large.
It is a little on the cold side, any sort of central heating died long ago but the kind people there do provide space users with gas heaters which warm the room in no time at all… when they invariably work!
It’s great to see big buildings like this in use again — there are many in Bristol which aren’t!