Beautiful Bristol

This post is about something a little different, something much closer to home.  Although not originally from Bristol, I've lived in the area for a little over 20 years and don't see myself moving.  Its a great city with a rich and varied history.  Its connected to the sea via a long tidal channel and in the past had a large commercial harbour from which ships laden with goods and rather notoriously, people sailed the world.  For a while after the harbour was no longer used it stood decaying but over the last decade or so its been totally modernised and is now home to bars, restaurants, shops, homes, hotels etc.  Its transformed the city and its harbour into a lovely place to be.

Fortune Drive, Des Rodgers

These days, Bristol is perhaps better known for its Harbourside festival and its Balloon fiesta.  But it was also home to another great festival until its demise in 2007.  This was the Bristol Community Festival (BCF).  It started in 1974 growing to be the countries largest free music festival until its demise in 2007.    The festival was a forum for music from Bristol and the surrounding area and in its latter years had headliners from across the country.

It was at the BCF that I got my break into event photography. The festival took place at a large estate known as Ashton Court and I remember it being great fun as the festival site was large with two, sometimes three, external stages and a multitude of tents each with their own smaller stage.  The external stages where not too big, so the performers could be photographed relatively easily from the pit and stage access was normally permitted.  More importantly the concept of a three song rule didn't seem to exist. :-)

The photograph above is of Mark Bent whilst playing with the band Fortune Drive.  He started a solo session after which the rest of the band should have joined-in.  However, if I recall correctly, there was a fire in some equipment, perhaps the guitar/lead amps, which meant Mark had to keep drumming...  He kept it going for quite some time till the problem was fixed and the rest of the band returned.  From my viewpoint he put everything he had into keeping it going and it was fantastic.  It was a hot July summers day and by the end he was covered in sweat.

Its such a shame the festival is no more because it was a real Brizzle gem. :-)