FORWARDS Festival 2025: Music, Joy and Politics on the Bristol Downs

A scorcher of a Sunday in late-summer Bristol provided the backdrop for a myriad of talent to perform. Back again for its fourth year, FORWARDS Festival has quickly become an institution of the festival calendar due to its excellent line-ups, admirable ethics, and all-round good energy.

On the subject of good morals, the first highlight of Sunday was The Silhouettes Project. This South-London collective has been going from strength to strength, with a delectable array of artists coming together to form something special in the name of community and great music.

Their live set is a treat, with crisp flows from Nix Northwest, Eerf Evil, Asher Kosher and more, being blended into the supreme singing skill of Meron T, KeepVibesNear and others. A delightful way to get the day moving.

A dance in The Arches was next on the agenda, with Shy One providing the tracks to move your feet. For those who haven’t been, FORWARDS is predominantly made up of its West and East stages, with much of your day spent alternating back and forth between the two.

The Arches is a smaller, dance-oriented stage halfway between, and it makes an excellent stopping point. Always nice to expand the variety, and the selectors on offer were providing just that.

_Khaliphotography - FORWARDS Day 2

_Khaliphotography - FORWARDS Day 2

Before long however, it was time for one of my personal standouts from the setlist. By 5:30pm, the day’s golden hour belonged to Olivia Dean. She stepped on stage just as the sun dipped from fierce to forgiving, and the timing felt almost scripted.

The East Londoner travelled through her expanding setlist of hits, and as with every time I’ve seen her, I’m increasingly convinced she’s going to be one of the biggest stars in the world. Her having just sold-out 4 nights at The O2 seems to suggest this is very much the case. That sunset slot may be one of the last we get from Olivia, before her name rises up posters to the headline slot.

One of FORWARDS’s smartest signatures is their inclusion of political voices alongside musical ones. There was an appearance in the excellently-curated Talks Tent from the likes of Zarah Sultana, Carol Vorderman, Gary Stevenson and more. Zarah Sultana was later invited to the main stage to address the full crowd.

“It’s easy to feel like politics is something that happens somewhere else”, she engagingly began, at the opening of her impassioned speech, which outlined plans for her newly announced party, as well as the future of the country and those who would seek to divide it, “because politics doesn't belong to the billionaires”.

Against the backdrop of festival euphoria, it served as a poignant reminder of the privilege of being able to attend such events, and the unthinkable realities so many are facing. “So join us. The time is now,” she concluded. A powerful moment of the weekend, to be sure.

Then, in a seamless transition, we went from politics to jungle as Zarah welcomed Nia Archives to the stage. Nia’s set was everything you’d want it to be. Full of high-octane rollers carving through the crowd with skipping drums and her wonderful vocals. It was the prime time to move and dance; a set of pure joy for all those congregated.

_Khaliphotography - FORWARDS Day 2

A trip to the East Stage at the other side of the site for The Last Dinner Party was well worth the walk. They delivered a tight set of rich, theatrical alternative-pop that was well received by all.

Though this appearance came wrapped in a statement. A day earlier, they pulled out of Victorious Festival due to the organisers cutting a performance from The Mary Wallopers short after they led a chant of ‘Free Palestine’ on stage. With a Palestine flag taking full-screen behind them (Victorious Festival staff also attempted to remove a Palestine flag from the stage), the group expressed their unwillingness to remain silent in the face of such horrors in the world.

Rather than attempting to moderate what performers are saying on stage, Victorious Festival could learn a thing or two about how to embrace how people are truly feeling, and to allow the conversation that needs to be had. Art has always, and will always be political.

And finally, after a day of such joy already, we were treated to the iconic Jorja Smith back over on the West Stage. With a compelling stage design, she started with her slower, more intimate offerings. ‘Blue Lights’ and ‘Teenage Fantasy’ from her early years continue to stand out, as well as a plethora of tracks from her recent album falling or flying. The back end of the performance was cleverly packed with the garage numbers Jorja has gifted her voice to over the years.

With the whole downs dancing to ‘On My Mind’, the set, and the weekend, unfortunately had to come to an end.

And so wraps another year at FORWARDS, and what a year it was. It firmly stands in the mind as the gold standard for day festivals in the UK. From line-up to location, from the people to the food, there’s very little FORWARDS doesn’t do brilliantly. Till next year.

_Khaliphotography - FORWARDS Day 2