Saturday 4 July | 11am–2.30pm

Migration. Memory. Music. Movement.

Taking place on Independence Day and the weekend St Pauls Carnival would ordinarily have filled Bristol's streets with music and movement, IndepenDance is a guided civic walking experience inspired by the life and legacy of Carmen Beckford MBE — community leader, cultural activist and co-founder of St Pauls Carnival.

Join Karnival King Julz Davis for a journey through Bristol's histories of migration, protest, carnival and cultural resistance through storytelling, film, public history and live conversation.

The experience begins at the RWA, where participants can explore Dance Out before gathering beside the bust of Carmen Beckford to begin the walk.

From there, participants will uncover Clifton's hidden and not-so-hidden multicultural and countercultural histories. Set within a neighbourhood shaped by wealth, empire, migration and cultural change, the walk explores how questions of power, belonging and representation continue to shape Bristol today.

Alongside the RWA, BMAG and Whiteladies Road, the route connects stories of migration, civil rights and the Bristol Sound, linking figures such as Raghbir Singh and the Bristol Bus Boycott with the former Coach House Studios associated with early Massive Attack recordings.

Returning to the RWA, the experience concludes with an performance from dancer Anna Demming, and an opportunity to explore, This is Jungle, a showcase of photographs and memorabilia documenting the evolution of jungle music in Bristol.

Part walking tour, part performance and part public conversation, IndepenDance invites participants to experience history not simply as something to remember, but as something to move through together.

image credit: Alastair Brookes/KoLAB studios