BBP Newsletter. Summer 2026

Welcome to the latest newsletter from the Bristol Bordeaux Partnership (BBP) for Summer 2026. Today we reflect on a month of further twinning activities underway, and some planned. And of course our thoughts were with our friends and colleagues in Bordeaux whilst they recover from the summer fires.

Mini Assistants - Bristol University students in Bordeaux

The first two weeks of June saw this year's group of Bristol University French department students spending two weeks in schools in Bordeaux.

BBP, as before, worked with Bristol University and our sister organisation in Bordeaux, the Association Bordeaux - Bristol, to arrange schools and hosts for the students.

They spent 2 weeks teaching French school children and at the same time improving their own French. And they saw the sights of Bordeuax as well.

Here's to next years exchanges.

Opera live from Bordeaux - a free open air concert

An exciting new collaboration sees Opéra National de Bordeaux streaming a live show to the giant We The Curious screen on Millennium Square of September 11th.

Bordeaux approached Bristol City Council via the council counterparts in Bordeaux who contacted We The Curious.

September 11th at 19.00 see the live broadcast of a selection of show tunes by Leonard Bernstein. The broadcast in Millennium Square is free. Just bring along a chair and some refreshments. for more information read the Bordeaux Opera Live Screening | We The Curious site.

BBP and the City Council are also investigating the possibility of much closer links in future between We The Curious and similar family oriented Science museums in Bordeaux.

French film night

The next of our periodic showing of French films will be on Thursday October 8th.

We'll be celebrating the 25th anniversary of the film Amelie. Once again we wil be at Audley Redwood in Failland. tickets will cost £10 on the day which will include a snack. Doors and the bar will open fro 18.30 for a start at 19.00.

Please let Gill Hood know if you plan to come - using gannahd1@outlook.com - so we can plan for the refreshments.

Lunchtime concert

We will once again be gathering for a lunchtime concert of French classical music at St George's Concert Hall.

Thursday October 1st at 13.00 with a Programme including Faure's Elegie Op24 and Debussy's sonata for cello and Piano, together with Dvorak's Silent Wood Op 68 and Chopin's sonata for cello & piano.

Tickets are £10.36 with a booking fee. Everyone should buy their own tickets but we'll meet at St George's and also in the cafe afterwards for a light lunch.

80th anniversary of Bristol, Bordeaux and Hannover being twinned

As mentioned in previous newsletters work is underway with Bristol City Council and various Bristol organisations to plan a series of events for 2027 to celebrate the 80th anniversary of Bristol's twinning with Bordeaux (and with Hannover). Planning will re-start with vigour in September after the summer lull and we will keep you informed of progress, and of course how you could get involved.

BBP is also driving another potentially exciting piece of associated work to use publicly available databases in both Bordeaux and Bristol, with the added help of AI, to help to create ongoing strong links between similar businesses, organisations, charities, clubs etc in the 2 cities.

Wine Tasting - the Rhone

We will once again be running one of our successful wine tasting evenings i the Autumn.

Friday Novermber 20th at the Bristol Commonwealth Society, Whiteladies Road. The evening will be a wine tasting and talk, again led by wine expert Ian Abrahams, featuring wines from the Rhone Valley.

Door open at 18.30 for a 19.00 start with tickets at £27.00 to include not just the wines but also a good platter of breads and cheeses provided by the Commonwealth Society, as per last year.

For full details and to register please contact Gill Hood using gannahd1@outlook.com

Bristol Harbour Festival

Many of you will have attended the annual Harbour Festival.in July. Bristol’s Twin Cities brought a global soundtrack to Brunel Square onto the Dockyard Stage (SS Great Britain), with artists representing five of Bristol’s twin cities. Featuring a mix of locally based musicians and including artists travelling from Hannover, Porto and Bordeaux, it was an uplifting programme celebrating culture, connection and creative exchange.

Bordeaux was represented by :Fils. (Stéphane Del Castillo) , a French indie-pop artist . Fils said "I’m honoured to be part of this exchange between Bristol and Bordeaux. It’s my first time performing in England, and I’m especially excited to play in Bristol, an iconic city renowned for its adventurous and avant-garde music scene."

Lets hope we can repeat the entertainment in 2027.