I visited Bristol on the weekend of the Bristol Harbour Festival. Bristol was busy during the festival, but the atmosphere was also relaxed. The harbour was filled with boats and flags, and I saw several specialist boat clubs.
Bristol Harbour Festival started on Friday and finished on Sunday. It consisted of live music, water events, boat parades, harbour-side markets, carnivals/amusements, a fireworks display, and various other attractions. Local businesses were cashing in on the event.
In between looking for the Gromit sculptures, I took in the atmosphere of the Harbour Festival. I listened to some live music and had a quick browse around the markets. The weather stayed fairly nice, but it was not as nice as it has been. There was a bit of rain on Saturday afternoon, which seemed to cut the crowd numbers. The rain fell softly as we watched the fireworks display.
A steam boat club
On Sunday, the water events included stunts on waterski. This attracted a crowd watching the water stunts in the harbour.
Water ski
Water ski stunts
Bristol harbour with boats
The harbour features several other events, such as a boat parade and different types of boat, such as tall ships and steam boats.
The steam train at the MShed leaves behind a cloud of smoke with several different types of boat in the foreground.
Along the harbour, market stalls were set up to sell food and craft items.
This cute stall sold strawberries and cream; it smelled of strawberry
Bristol has improved greatly from the time that I used to live in the area, which was now several years ago now. The city centre was regenerated a few years ago, and more independent shops have opened. The centre also feels safer than it did when I worked in the area.
This bulldog-painted boat looked menacing as it sailed up and down the harbour
Cranes at the MShed near the harbour with visitors to the festival
On Saturday night, the fireworks display lit up the skies and the harbour. I watched the fireworks launch from behind the cranes in front of the MShed museum. This was the first year in a few years that fireworks have been launched for the Bristol Harbour Festival.
A selection of fireworks from the fireworks display explode with the MShed and cranes in the foreground
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