ABSTRACT
The year 2007 was the 200th anniversary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act and October 2007 was the 20th anniversary of Black History Month. Forming part of Bristol’s celebrations was the two-week long celebration of African culture at the second Afrika Eye Festival, featuring music, food and dancing at venues across the city, including the Arnolfini and Cube Cinema. St George’s Bristol—which had reopened with a new look and a new name in 1999—was by 2007 providing a year-round programme of jazz, classical, folk, world music and small-scale opera. The 1800-capacity venue originally opened in November 2001 and hosted both bands and club nights. Artists performing in 2007 included Happy Mondays, Manu Chao, Super Furry Animals and Lethal Bizzle. The “Bristol sound” of Portishead and Roni Size brought the city to international prominence in the mid-1990s with drum’n’bass and its stoner cousin, trip hop.
