HotFest celebrates the value and wonder of the crafted word in all its forms. Written, spoken, sung, chanted, shouted, painted, mimed and danced, this is where the established and the up-and-coming share the beauty of their craft, and invite us into new ways of seeing the world.<\/p>

\u201cThe form will take reflection from the times\u201d (Frazey Ford)<\/strong><\/p>

Founded in 2020, HotFest is an early autumn festival, based around Bristol\u2019s quirky west harbour, in pubs, chapels and tents, on the cobbles, and under the afternoon sky. It\u2019s also a monthly words and music gig held \u2018on the hill\u2019 (The Eldon House) and \u2018on the
barge\u2019 (The Grain Barge).<\/p>

We\u2019ve all heard that clich\u00e9 about the \u2018power of words\u2019, but what happens when we start taking it really seriously? Are we ready to hear things as they are? HotFest is unashamedly about sight, sound and feeling, fire and passion, rage and love, laughter and tears, joy and fury:<\/p>

• Diverse poets young and old, published and not, and spoken word artists.Local bands and small music sets including folk, bluegrass, jazz and classical.<\/li>
• Prose writers or critics sharing insights and inspiring debate.<\/li>
• Edgy, avant-garde small theatre sets, dance pieces and cabaret shows.<\/li>
• Workshops about starting out as a writer, using writing for therapy and building skills in poetry.<\/li>
• A bit of rap, a bit of comedy, a bit of soap-box philosophy, a bit of burlesque and a lot of love!!<\/li><\/ul>

  Oh, and by the way\u2026 if you\u2019re worried that wordy festivals are all highfalutin, arty-farty, exclusive events only for educated middle class people, Please! Please! Please! think again! If you are even vaguely intrigued by the idea, then this festival is for you. So many
  of our writers, performers and musicians come from backgrounds in which the arts weren\u2019t available or encouraged, and they are doing wonderful things with their craft \u2013 breaking down barriers, creating new worlds, bringing new perspectives on old ideas, and connecting people with sounds and symbols that you can\u2019t get any other way. All you need is an open mind, and, trust me(!), you\u2019re welcome here!!<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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  Venues<\/h3>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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  HotFest happens in Hotwells\u2026
  \u201cA tangle of overhead roads, a basin of sacred water, a bonded warehouse and a
  circling gull. Its margins a scraggle of beer-mat lyrics, indignantly startled in the act of
  defining themselves, resplendent in their failure to cohere\u201d.
  \u2026 and a little bit in Cliftonwood.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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  Grain Barge<\/h5>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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  Hotwell Rd, Bristol BS8 4RU<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/div>

  https:\/\/grainbarge.com\/<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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  Merchants Arms<\/h5>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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  5 Merchants Rd, Bristol BS8 4PZ<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/div>

  https:\/\/www.themerchantsarms.co.uk\/<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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  Eldon House<\/h5>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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  6 Lower Clifton Hill, Clifton, Bristol BS8 1BT<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/div>

  http:\/\/www.theeldonhouse.com\/<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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  Holy Trinity Church<\/h5>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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  3 Charles Pl, Hotwells, Bristol BS8 4ST<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/div>

  https:\/\/www.holytrinityhotwells.org\/<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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  Nova Scotia Pub Upstairs<\/h5>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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  1 Nova Scotia Pl, Bristol BS1 6XJ<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/div>

  https:\/\/www.novascotiabristol.co.uk\/<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  About HotFest celebrates the value and wonder of the crafted word in all its forms. Written, spoken, sung, chanted, shouted, painted, mimed and danced, this is where the established and the up-and-coming share the beauty of their craft, and invite us into new ways of seeing the world. \u201cThe form will take reflection from the …<\/p>\n

  About<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","WB4WB4WP_MODE":"","WB4WP_PAGE_SCRIPTS":"","WB4WP_PAGE_STYLES":"","WB4WP_PAGE_FONTS":"","WB4WP_PAGE_HEADER":"","WB4WP_PAGE_FOOTER":"","_mi_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"no-sidebar","site-content-layout":"page-builder","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"disabled","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"disabled","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"enabled","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotwellsfestival.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/126"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotwellsfestival.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotwellsfestival.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotwellsfestival.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotwellsfestival.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/hotwellsfestival.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/126\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2522,"href":"https:\/\/hotwellsfestival.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/126\/revisions\/2522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotwellsfestival.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}