Live Review + Gallery | Down Stokes Festival 2026

Down Stokes Festival 2026

Multiple Venues, Stokes Croft, Bristol

17th October 2026

Photography by Ella Nicholls (@elnichphoto)

Ella Nicholls

Can be found dashing around Bristol photographing gigs, or listening to LCD Soundsystem. There’s no in between.

We return to Bristol’s growing DIY Festival Down Stokes, with highlights from School Disco, DITZ, GANS and more

As the evening drew in on Saturday, I headed down to this year’s edition of Down Stokes festival, situated in the heart of Bristol’s Stokes Croft. On arrival, I was met with a very warm welcome from Ed the creator of the festival.

My first stop of the day was The People’s Republic of Stokes Croft to catch the festival’s opener, psych proggers School Disco. Backlit by a live view of their drummer reminiscent of liquid light projections, they set the crowd awash with frantic distorted guitar.

Up next were Bristol Bristol-based Doomsday Orchestra, bringing their self-described post-apocalyptic pop to The Croft. Their guitar driven and synth tinged sound was deeply engaging to witness as it was hard to place my finger on any particular influences.

I moved on to the Attic Bar for the rest of the night, first catching Dreamwave, who featured one of the most expressive drummers I’ve ever seen. Their set blended a danceable mix of krautrock and surf, getting everyone moving.

Enola Gay came out in full force with grungy bass lines paired with distorted vocals and atmospheric guitars taking the audience by storm with the pit opening with most of the crowd getting involved.

DITZ were up next, a band which I was not familiar with before the day had started, but one I wish I had been aware of sooner. They were utterly frenetic with the pit erupting into chaos with crowd surfers from every angle and a healthy amount of headbanging from all.

Closing out the day at midnight were Birmingham duo GANS, who, despite having played Future Days festival in Birmingham only a few hours earlier, did not let that slow them down. It was possibly the highest energy set I had seen from them.

I hope I have the opportunity to return to Down Stokes next year as it has already made it onto my list of the most exciting festivals in Bristol. Check out the full gallery below: