Bristol Beacon Record Fair
Dates and hours verified on 28/10/2026 on the official sites.
The Bristol Beacon Record Fair, run by South West Record Fairs, bills itself as the biggest record fair in the South West. It fills the foyer of Bristol Beacon over three floors, with up to seventy dealers selling mostly vinyl (LPs, 12-inch and 7-inch records) and some CDs, from the fifties to the present day. There are turntables to test records and a café and bar, and dealers may take trades.
Dates
5 December 2026; in 2027: 6 February, 3 April, 5 June, 16 October and 11 December. Open 10am to 4pm.
| Date | Town | Venue | Hours | Admission |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday 5 December 2026 | Bristol | Bristol Beacon Trenchard Street, BS1 5AR |
10:00–16:00 | free |
| Saturday 6 February 2027 | Bristol | Bristol Beacon Trenchard Street, BS1 5AR |
10:00–16:00 | free |
| Saturday 3 April 2027 | Bristol | Bristol Beacon Trenchard Street, BS1 5AR |
10:00–16:00 | free |
| Saturday 5 June 2027 | Bristol | Bristol Beacon Trenchard Street, BS1 5AR |
10:00–16:00 | free |
| Saturday 16 October 2027 | Bristol | Bristol Beacon Trenchard Street, BS1 5AR |
10:00–16:00 | free |
| Saturday 11 December 2027 | Bristol | Bristol Beacon Trenchard Street, BS1 5AR |
10:00–16:00 | free |
Verified on 28/10/2026 on the official sites: bristolbeacon.org/whats-on/record-fair · swrecordfairs.co.uk. Free admission and hours on every date confirmed by email by South West Record Fairs on 28/10/2026. Always check before you travel.
Admission and getting there
Admission is free. The fair is open 10am to 4pm on every date, over three floors with lifts to every level and a café. There is a multi-storey car park next to the venue, and you can walk from Bristol Temple Meads station.
- South West Record Fairs · swrecordfairs.co.uk
Five records to look for
We can't tell you what will be on the tables, but these Bristol records are worth stopping for if you see them. Pressing details are from Discogs.
The album that Wikipedia credits with founding Bristol's trip-hop sound, produced by Massive Attack and Jonny Dollar, with Shara Nelson and Horace Andy singing. It includes "Safe from Harm", "Unfinished Sympathy" and "Daydreaming". On the original UK pressing the artist is credited as "Massive", and the labels are blue with silver text.
The Bristol band's debut, produced by Dennis "Blackbeard" Bovell. Reviews at the time were mixed, but Pitchfork later ranked it 35th among the best albums of the 1970s and The Wire listed it among its "100 Most Important Records Ever Made". Discogs notes label variants: some copies have "Copyright Control" on the side A label, others "Rough Trade Records Ltd".
The second album by the band formed by Bruce Smith and Gareth Sager after The Pop Group split; Neneh Cherry later sang with them. It was released as two 12-inch discs at 45 rpm. The labels read "Made in London. High fidelity."
Drum and bass from Bristol, and winner of the 1997 Mercury Prize. On vinyl it came as a 4LP and a 5LP; the 5LP set adds tracks from the second CD, including "Heroes" and "Digital". The UK 5 x 12-inch set at 45 rpm has individual printed grey inner sleeves, in a plastic wallet sealed with a hype sticker.
The debut album by the reggae band formed in 1979 in St Paul's, Bristol. It was recorded and mixed at Satril Studios, 444 Finchley Road, in London. It was not their first release: the Bristol Rock EP and Chanting for Freedom came out in 1981 on Nubian. A limited vinyl reissue followed in 2013 from Bristol Archive.
More on the city's shops in our chapter Bristol — One Sound per Shop, and You Do the Mixing.
