Rave On For The Avon
A feature-length documentary film that follows a local community’s fight to save their bathing spot in unique, daring & distinctly Bristolian ways.
.png)
IN THE NEWS
The Outdoor Swimming Society
“A beautiful new film which captures a community’s love for the Avon and explores the importance of rivers in modern life – all set to a Bristol soundtrack. "
Patrick Naylor
Kendal Mountain Festival
"A sensually produced film that will truly immerse you; sink in to the stories, get deep into the issues,
and rise out raving."
Claire Carter,
Artistic Director Kendal Mountain Festival
EPIGRAM Magazine
"This documentary has to be one of the best embodiments of Bristol Spirit that I have ever seen on screen”
Charlotte Kyle
UPCOMING SCREENINGS
OVER 4,900 PEOPLE HAVE SEEN OUR FILM AT OVER 90 SCREENINGS!
From Bristol to Cornwall to Colombia!!!
For past screenings, scroll to the bottom of this page.
Mostly British Film Festival SAN FRANSISCO // Sat 7th Feb // 3pm
Stavely CUMBRIA // Thurs 12th Feb // 7pm
Stroud Film Festival // Tue 10th March // 8pm
CHIPPENHAM FILM CLUB // 31st May // tbc
Les Yeux Dans l'Eau Film Festival FRANCE // 21st & 25th April
We are rounding down from an incredible cinema tour of the film at over 90 screenings. Community Screenings are still popping up around the world with subtitles available in French and Spanish.
You can host a screening with your community with our Community Screening License.
Watch this space as we update it regularly.
LEAVE A REVIEW
Thank you to all who left such lovely reviews of the film above. If you have seen Rave On For The Avon please share your thoughts on IMDb or Letterboxd.
YOU CAN HELP US
BUILD THIS MOVEMENT
This film is an independent production and a labour of love. It has grown into a grassroot movement inspiring creative activism to protect rivers in the UK and beyond.
THE CAMPAIGN
In a densely residential part of East Bristol runs a serene section of the River Avon which attracts crowds of swimmers in the summer and a regular rotation of cold-water swimmers in winter.
It offers solace and healing for those struggling with mental health issues and a free outdoor activity for local lower-income families.
Three local swimmers formed the Conham Bathing Group, a citizen-led water testing programme to help raise awareness of the poor water quality in the Avon.
The Conham Bathing Group are applying for Designated Bathing Water Status (DBWS). Officially designated Bathing Waters are the only blue spaces where water quality is regularly monitored for its effect on human health, and legal obligations are put on polluting industries to clean up their act. In the UK there are currently only 3 stretches of river with this status, all of which have been won through local campaigns.
There is an ecological emergency in English rivers.
The human and wildlife population are at risk.
Today, in England, only 14% of rivers are in good
ecological health & none are in good chemical health.
In 2021, the environmental performance of the UK’s
water & sewage companies fell to the lowest level
on record, with little improvement since.
But the Bristol Council prohibits swimming in the river, and it’s often filled with dangerous levels of raw sewage, chemical pollution and farm run-off.
This leaves everyone with a dilemma; for all the benefits the river gives them, it could potentially cause them even greater harm.
"Rave On For The Avon" features a tapestry of people who love and fight for this river, illustrating how much there is to loose if the Avon continues to face unending pollution.
This film delivers a sense of urgency about the critical state of the River Avon and how much the locals rely on it for their health and wellbeing.
It galvanises audiences to campaign for policy change in the UK and abroad. We screened the film to local Councillors in Bristol to support Conham Bathing's launch of the Thriving Avon Charter, a document created by the river guardian community laying out policy recommendations for the Avon.
Rave On For The Avon invites viewers to seek out swimming spots in their local area and fight to protect them. The situation is dire but there is hope and community to be found in protecting rivers.
We are collaborating with Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) and Rivers Trust to point people to a growing movement of activism which seeks to attain 200 designated bathing waters by 2030. For more infomation please visit SAS's Protecting Wild Waters Campaign.
Read about our joyful sold-out Premiere screening at PYTCH where 300 river-lovers gathered to share in this story.
OUR BLOG
Follow this journey from a film to a movement.
PAST SCREENINGS
BUCKFASTLEIGH, DEVON // 23rd Nov
WATCHET, SOMMERSET // 27th Nov
RUTHIN, NORTH WALES // 27th Nov
LA ROCHELLE, FRANCE | Festival International du Film (FIFAV) // 23rd Nov
MIDHURST, WEST SUSSEX // 11th Nov
FORDINGBRIDGE, HAMPSHIRE | The Regal Cinema // 11th of Oct
MADRID, SPAIN | Another Way Film Festival // 18th of Oct
CAMBRIDGE | Rivers of Film Festival // 3rd of Oct
BRISTOL AQUARIUM IMAX, WORLD RIVERS DAY // 27th Sep
HAVERFORDWEST | Pembrokeshire // Haverhub // 26th of Sep
BOURNEMOUTH | Patch // Transition Towns Bournemouth // 16th Sep
YORK | City Screen Picturehouse // + Q&A // 4th of Sep
GREENMAN FESTIVAL | Breacon Beacons // + Q&A
BEDRUTHAN STEPS | Cornwall // + Q&A // 25th July
BATH | Climate Hub BANES // + Q&A // 31st July
WINDSOR | Old Court Cinema // 20th July
NORWICH | Picturehouse Cinema City // 17th July
SEAFORD | Little Green Cinema // + Q&A // 22nd June
COLERNE, WILTSHIRE // Wild Waters Festival // 13th June
NEW MILLS, Derbyshire | Spring Bank Arts Centre // 13th June
SAINT MALO, FRANCE | Festival Étonnants Voyageurs // 7-9th June
LONDON | London Rivers Week // Cody Dock // 5th June
CHESTER | Picturehouse // Chester Green Weekend // 5th June
LANCASTER | Halton Mill // 1st June
LEEDS | Hyde Park Picturehouse // 28th May
BRISTOL | Rockaway Park // + Q&A // 25th May
SALISBURY | in partnership with Extinction Rebellion // 23rd May
LIVERPOOL | Picturehouse at FACT // + Q&A // 18th May
FROME | Merlin Theatre // + Q&A // 16th May
WIVELISCOMBE | Somerset // in partnership with Beaver Trust // 16th May
EMSWORTH | Hampshire // with Final Straw Foundation // 15th May
LEEDS | Hyde Park Picture House // + Q&A // 6th of May @ 6:15 PM
CARDIGAN, WEST WALES | Mwldan Cinema // various screenings in May
OXFORD | Ultimate Picture Palace // + Q&A // 24th Apr
WOTTON-UNDER-EDGE, GLOUCESTERSHIRE | Electric Cinema // 1st Apr
ABERYSTWYTH, MID WALES // + Q&A (part of Wales One World Film Festival) // 30th Mar
CARDIGAN, WEST WALES | Mwldan Cinema // + Q&A // 29th oMar
LONDON | Greenwich Picturehouse // + Q&A // 27th Mar
CARMARTHEN, SOUTH-WEST WALES | Yr Egin // + Q&A (part of Wales One World Film Festival) // 25th Mar
CAMBRIDGE | Arts Picturehouse // Q&A // 22nd oMar
MANCHESTER | CULTPLEX // Q&A // 19th Mar
FESTIVAL OF JUST FUTURES | United World College of the Atlantic // + Q&A // 15th Mar
SOUTHAMPTON | Harbour Lights Picturehouse // Q&A // 13th Mar
SOLD OUT: BRISTOL | People's Republic of Stokes Croft // +Q&A // 12th Mar
HENLEY-ON-THAMES, OXFORDSHIRE | Regal Picturehouse // + Q&A // 12th Mar
TYWYN, GWYNEDD, WALES | Magic Lantern // + Q&A // 9th Mar
SOLD OUT: COLEFORD, GLOUCESTERSHIRE | Studio Cinema // + Q&A // 6th Mar
WESTON-SUPER-MARE | Plaza Cinema // + Q&A // 5th Mar
HAY-ON-WYE, WALES | The Globe At Hay // + Q&A // 1st Mar
REDRUTH, CORNWALL | Regal Cinema // + Q&A // 26th Feb
LANGPORT, SOMERSET | free screening w/Transition Lanpgport // 20th Feb
EXETER, DEVON | Exeter Phoenix // + Q&A // 18th Feb
NOTTINGHAM | Mammoth - A Climate Action Cinema // 15th Feb
SOLD OUT: LONDON | Theatreship, Canary Wharf // + Q&A // 13th Feb
SWANAGE, DORSET | The Mowlem Theatre // + Q&A // 7th Feb
SOLD OUT: BRISTOL | The Grain Barge // + Q&A + afterparty with Ngaio and Elder Island // 6th Feb
NEWQUAY, CORNWALL | The Lighthouse // 6th Feb
LEWES, EAST SUSSEX | Lewes Depot // + Q&A // 3rd Feb
LONDON | Cinema Museum, Kennington // + Q&A // 2nd Feb
LETCHWORTH, HERTFORDSHIRE | Broadway Cinema // 29th Jan
SOLD OUT: BIARRITZ, FRANCE | FIPADOC // screening // 29th Jan
SOLD OUT: LETCHWORTH | Broadway Cinema // + Q&A // 26th Jan
BIARRITZ, FRANCE | FIPADOC // + Q&A // 25th Jan
PENRITH, CUMBRIA | Alhambra Cinema // + Q&A // 16th Jan
FALMOUTH, CORNWALL | The Poly // 16th Jan
HEBDEN BRIDGE PICTUREHOUSE // + Q&A // 11th January 2025
BRISTOL, FILMMAKING FOR THE FUTURE FESTIVAL | St Anne's House, Bristol // + Q&A // 14th December
BATH, SOMERSET | The Little Theatre // + Q&A // 16th November
BRISTOL, University of Bristol | School of Geography // + Q&A // 23rd Oct
BRISTOL, Wildscreen Festival // Royal Photographic Society // + Q&A // 16th October
BRISTOL, Community Screening with Patagonia Bristol & Surfers Against Sewage // Watershed // + Q&A // 29th September
BATH, SOMERSET | Community Screening with Finisterre & Bristol Avon Rivers Trust // Finisterre // + Q&A // 11th July
BRISTOL, Thriving Avon Charter Launch at The Tobacco Factory // + Q&A // 15th June
KESWICK, CUMBRIA | with West Cumbria Rivers Trust // Alhambra Cinema // 5th June
OXFORD UNIVERSITY | School of Geography and Environment // + Q&A // 28th May
LONDON, MORDEN HALL | Preview Screening at The UK River Summit // 21st May
MOUSEHOLE, CORNWALL | with Surfers Against Sewage // 10th May
CLEVEDON | Curzon Cinema // + Q&A // 4th May
BRISTOL, Special Preview at Bristol Aquarium // 25th April
BRISTOL, Special Preview at BBC Natural History Unit // 18th April
BRISTOL, our premiere at PYTCH // 23rd March 2024
Preview at Kendal Mountain Festival // 17th November 2023
