Why we made Forage
What's-on websites are a pain to use. Pages and pages of year-round pub quizzes and walking tours crowd out the small yearly community events that you'd be gutted to miss. Sifting through them is a nightmare.
Music is extremely well served. Headfirst Bristol is an amazing resource — we couldn't do better, and we're not going to try.
But for everything else — community fairs, art exhibitions, theatre productions, food festivals, open studios — there's a lot of room for improvement. Events should meet you where you are: your calendar. No emails, no newsletters, no "engagement". Just a calendar feed tailored to your interests.
What we track
Fairs, festivals, markets, open days, talks, workshops — the kind of thing run by volunteers and local groups. If it brings people together and only happens once or twice a year, we want it.
Gallery shows, open studios, artist talks. The kind of exhibition you'd plan a weekend around.
Plays, performances, and productions with a limited run. Community theatre, independent venues, and the major houses.
What we don't track
There's just too much good music in Bristol, and Headfirst already covers it brilliantly. We're not going near music — we couldn't do better if we tried.
We find events by following organisers — people and groups who put things on regularly. If something is truly one-off with no organiser to follow, we won't catch it.
Pub quizzes, walking tours, park runs, weekly yoga. If tracking a category would mean people's calendars are full of events every single day, we skip it. Forage is about the rare things — the kind of event you'd be gutted to miss.