Friendsfest. Possibly one of the best festivals to ever grace Bristol, am I right? After years of missing out, well not wanting to trek ALL the way to Oxford, the organisers finally arranged Friendsfest in Bristol in 2019 and I managed to nab tickets! Following its success, they’ve recently announced it will be back again for 2020.
What is friendsfest exactly?
If you love the hit TV show friends then this is the event for you, it’s essentially a celebration of the show. During your time, you’ll receive an allocated time to visit the show’s sets that have been rebuilt on location.
These include Monica’s Apartment, Joey and Chandler’s apartment, Ross’ apartment and the cheesecake corridor.
You’ll also have plenty of photo opportunity to recreate the titles, pivot the sofa, re-enact the floating heads and get married in Vegas.
A variation of central park is available to purchase tea and coffee, and a big screen playing episodes of the show throughout the day.
The festival will take place from 17th - 26th July in 2020 from 11am to 8pm / 9.30pm
How to get tickets
This is one bit of spam mail you won’t mind as by registering on the email subscribers list, you’ll receive a 48-hour presale link before public sales. The event is set to be a sell out so it’s worth signing up!
Tickets cost between £34 for peak time, during purchase you’ll need to select both a date and the time of your set tour so be sure to know this in advance.
The ticket includes a 30 minute set your experience, and access to all other features on the day. The set tour ticket Is also your site admission ticket, regardless of your set tour time you can arrive to the site at any time during opening hours.
Where to park
In Bristol, the event takes place at Blaise Castle for which there is parking available on site and signposted.
Friendsfest Festival Food
Central Perk served up the usual coffee orders about the price you’d expect to pay in Starbucks - £3.60 for most drinks. The food options included food vans branded as Joey’s Pizza, Phoebe’s Veggie Buffay, The One with the Cheesecake and Bagels.
My Thoughts on the Festival
Overall, I really enjoyed the festival but despite some new additions to the features this year, I don’t feel like I need to go again. Visit during first opening and get some of the photo opportunities out of the way before the crowds multiply and the queues become unbearable.
The merchandise in the shop was worthwhile, you can pick up a hugsy or a really nice travel cup.
