Bristol Summer Festivals 2006

t's summer time again, and still living in Bristol, can mean only one thing... Festival Time! Whether it be Brunel 200, The Orange Ashton Court Music Festival, Joust at Berkeley Castle, The EDF Energy Harbour Festival or the top of the bill Discovery Channel Balloon Fiesta. There is one thing for sure, summer certainly doesn't go bye without a bang of some sort in Bristol. So without further ado, here are some photo's from this years extravaganza's...

Bristol is a city, unitary authority and ceremonial county in South West England, 115 miles (185 km) west of London and located at 51°27'14"N, 2°35'48"W

With a population of 400,000, and metropolitan area of 550,000, it is England's sixth, and the United Kingdom's ninth, most populous city, and one of England's core cities. It received a royal charter in 1155 and was granted county status in 1373. For half a millennium it was the second or third largest English city, until the rapid rise of Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham in the Industrial Revolution of the 1780s. It borders on the unitary districts of Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire, and has a short coastline on the Bristol Channel

Bristol is one of the centres of culture, employment and education in the region. From its earliest days, its prosperity has been linked to that of the Port of Bristol, the commercial port, which was in the city centre but has now moved to the Bristol Channel coast at Avonmouth and Portbury. In more recent years the economy has been built on the aerospace industry, and the city centre docks have been regenerated as a centre of heritage and culture. The city is famous for its music and film industries, and was a finalist for the 2008 European Capital of Culture

For Bristol, Brunel has left a permanent physical mark upon the City's landscape with the Clifton Suspension Bridge, ss Great Britain, Temple Meads Train Station and his improvements to the docks. Although he never lived in Bristol, he serves as the embodiment of the City's past success and as a symbol of the potential for rejuvenation and regeneration through creativity and innovation. Bristol has been designated a Science City by the British government in recognition of its potential for increasing investment in science and industry. Elsewhere in the South West, Brunel's brilliance can be seen at Swindon Railway Village and Works, Box Tunnel, Sydney Gardens in Bath and the Royal Albert Bridge, among other important sites. Passengers still travel to and from the region along the rail routes he created

Brunel 200 provided an exciting and wide-ranging programme of exhibitions, learning programmes, publications, walks and trails, arts projects, competitions, debates, media programmes and talks that commemorated Brunel’s life, times and legacy and inspired the Brunels of the future