Bristol Photo Festival 2026: Time Machine

Bristol Photo Festival returns on 14 October, with exhibitions and events running through February 2027. This edition is titled Time Machine, and it's an international biennial that spreads across multiple venues in Bristol, including The Welcome Building, Arnolfini and KIT FORM. The theme is layered time: the festival looks at overlooked histories, shared rituals and imagined futures, treating photography as a space where memory, fiction and possibility coexist, with multiple timelines unfolding in a single frame.

There's a lot to work through, and the dates vary by show. At The Welcome Building, Martin Parr's Common Sense runs from 14 October to 15 November, and the Magnum Foundation's HEAT and Kegham Djeghalian Jr.'s Photo Kegham both run for a shorter window, 14 to 15 November. Over at Arnolfini, The Prison Mobile Library opens on 31 October and stays until 7 February, and Joy Gregory's Catching Flies with Honey runs from 17 October through to 7 February. KIT FORM hosts Inherited by Kelly O'Brien and Yuko Edwards on 16 and 17 November.

Beyond the exhibitions, there are a few events to pin down. The Launch Night and Listening Event is on 14 October at Arnolfini, followed by opening music from Jabu, Dan Johnson and Regina Collage on 16 October, also at Arnolfini. On 17 October, walking tours take you across the different venues, and from 6 to 8 November, Olivia Arthur runs an artist masterclass.

The festival is managed, curated and produced by IC Visual Lab (ICVL), an independent visual arts organisation based here in Bristol. The 2024 edition drew over 115,000 visitors, with 14 exhibitions staged across the city's museums, galleries and independent spaces. This time around, the programme stretches from the opening night on 14 October right through to February 2027, so you've plenty of time to see it all.