Bristol Encontro Presents - Tambor 2026
Fund me page - www.gofundme.com/f/bristol-encontro-tambor
**SATURDAY **
🔥SambaYaBamba
Scotland's premier Samba institution of nearly 30 years! SambaYaBamba are a musical tour-de-force hailing from the sundrenched streets of tropical Glasgow. A 30-odd-piece drumming bateria and brass section rooted in the musical traditions of the Brazilian carnaval yet at the same time, very much tailored to a the UK crowd.
🔥Bloco B
BLOCO B performs and celebrates Rio de Janeiro Carnival style samba under the leadership of Terry Moore and musical director Matt Manley. Emphasis is on creating authentic versions of Rio samba tunes using rhythm, song, melody & dance. To achieve this they blend percussion & drumming (bateria) with singers, cavaquinho players and dancers
🔥Nordestinos
Nordestinos is a band from the North East of England, the group celebrates the folk and mining history of the UK while also merging with traditions from the North East of Brazil.
With Afro Brazilian inspired rhythms and dance combined with folk songs and instruments from the UK as well as a full horn section, the show is entirely unique in its sound and presentation.
The group is predominantly led by and made up of young emerging artists from County Durham and Scotland and has its roots based in a large community project with professional and non professionals taking part.
🔥Afon Sistema
Afon Sistema is an award winning, Bristol based, percussion and dance collective bringing the energy of Maracatu de Baque Virado in the UK.
🔥Samba Galez
Samba Galez is Wales' longest running carnival street band . We are a diverse, inclusive group of percussionists and dancers performing a funky set with influences from Brazil, Africa, Cuba and beyond.
🔥Bristol capoeira
🔥Bloco Fogo
With our motto “Samba is Wicked,” Bloco Fogo is a Samba Reggae band that brings the heat wherever we go—from bonfire parades in Sussex to the International Samba Festival in Coburg, Germany.
Now celebrating 25 years of vibrant performances, global rhythms, and unforgettable carnival moments, we continue to grow, evolve, and share our love of samba wherever we play.
Our sound fuses Afro-Brazilian, Cuban, and Funk rhythms with modern dance grooves—creating music that’s bold, infectious, and unmistakably our own.
🔥Baque Trovão
Maracatu percussion + songs.
🔥Mojuba
To open Tambor 2026, Mojubá brings you hypnotic and powerful, ancient African and Afro-Brazilian rhythms, played on Atabaques. Add to this beautiful call and answer songs and a brass section and we have Tambor's ceremonial opening.
The rhythms, songs and horns, will be an honouring of the roots of all the rhythms and drums played during Tambor.
Mojubá is a rhythm and a practice, that of bringing Axé into a space.
🔥Kaboozle
Kaboozle are a nine person percussion group with members from Stroud, Bristol and Newport. Generating a large sound from a small band with our own arrangements of Afro-Brazilian inspired pieces.
🔥Garden City Samba
Garden City Samba from Letchworth formed in 2011. We perform a range of Brazilian music styles (samba, samba reggae, maracatu) and original pieces created by our director Ravin 'Raz' Jayasuriya. The latter combines musical elements from different Afrobrazilian traditions arranged for Brazilian carnival instruments, which is also reflected in the choreography of our dancers.
🔥 Arco Iris
We are the Cambridge community samba group. We celebrated our 30th anniversary some years ago!
🔥Karamba Samba
We are a Chester based community bands, established around 25 years ago. We play up to 30 gigs a year, a mixture of community social events, private gigs and charity fundraisers, specialising in street parades, e.g. Brazilica in Liverpool. We have also performed at Welsh Encontro 2015 and 2025 and the Llangollen Eistedfodd for around 10 years. We have a repertoire of 14 songs including traditional Brazilian carnival, afoxe and samba reggae.
🔥The Silver Sambistas
The Silver Sambistas are a Brazilian percussion group for over-50s. We play Rio Carnival instruments, performing a range of styles under expert tution from David Walter from Olá Samba.
** SUNDAY **
🔥Safrela
All female vocal and percussion group playing music from Brazil
🔥Ilu Axé
Ilu Axé are a dynamic Samba-Reggae drumming and dance performance and teaching group based in Bristol.
Ilu is a drum and a rhythm, and Axé is positive energy. And that pretty much sums up what we do and who we are.
🔥Bristol Samba
Bristol Samba was founded as the Bristol School of Samba in 1986 and we have developed our presence ever since into this well-established popular community band. We engage expert tutors to develop the talents of our members in rhythm and in dance.
🔥Carnaval Transatlântico
Carnaval Transatlântico is a Birmingham-based samba band that brings the vibrant energy of Brazil’s Rio Carnaval to life with modern Brazilian rhythms, powerful vocals, and melodic flair. Blending original sounds with English-language classics, they create a unique, high-energy experience that gets audiences dancing. Notably, they were the first band outside Brazil to have officially registered and performed in Rio’s street carnival.
🔥Olá Samba
The Olá Samba Bateria brings a high-energy, brightly coloured performance on 100% acoustic percussion from the Rio Carnival. Expect a broad range of material from samba schools and blocos afros all alongside unique original material.
Bristol capoeira
🔥Pocket Bloco
Pocket Bloco is the sound of Brazilian carnival. From the streets of Rio direct to London.
Created and lead by Alex Talbot, Pocket Bloco showcases the infectious energy of the carnaval carioca in the UK.
Music from Sergio Mendes, Gilberto Gil, Ivete Sangalo, Tim Maia and many more.
🔥Barracwda
In love with too many styles to specialise in just one, Barracwda pays tribute to samba, to reggae and to the sounds of the NE of Brazil. Offering it all up with harmonised, folkloric and ancestral songs and brass. We aim to take you on a journey, turning up the temperature with a little Jungle and DnB to end the party!
🔥Mojuba
To open Tambor 2026, Mojubá brings you hypnotic and powerful, ancient African and Afro-Brazilian rhythms, played on Atabaques. Add to this beautiful call and answer songs and a brass section and we have Tambor's ceremonial opening.
The rhythms, songs and horns, will be an honouring of the roots of all the rhythms and drums played during Tambor.
Mojubá is a rhythm and a practice, that of bringing Axé into a space.
🔥Batala Bristol
BATALA is a worldwide project promoting and sharing Afro-Brazilian percussion specifically samba-reggae which originates from Salvador da Bahia, Brazil. We play compositions created by Giba Gonçalves, but it’s not just a musical project, the ethos is that of inclusion, equality and joining together to make music and enrich members lives and communities. Including giving back to the original community in Brazil.
🔥Samba Doc
Samba Doc emerged out of a series of samba workshops that took place in Pembroke Dock throughout the autumn of 2008. Since then the band has performed at over 400 public performances and several weddings.
🔥Sambassadors of Groove
Sambassadors of Groove are a community samba band based in Leamington Spa that has been running for over 25 years. We welcome all ages and abilities, and play a mix of samba,
🔥Simbora
Simbora are a community samba drum and dance group from Stroud, Gloucestershire.
🔥Sol Samba
A community-based samba band, Sol Samba have been bringing the joy of Brazilian music to the streets since the summer of 1999!
Sol Samba play at gigs and festivals across Oxford and the South East, bringing carnival vibes to the thousands gathering for Oxford’s May Morning sunrise celebrations, and leading the Oxford Pride parade, igniting crowds with the pulsating spirit and infectious energy of samba reggae grooves.
You may also like the following events from Bristol Encontro:
Also check out other
Entertainment events in Bristol,
Music events in Bristol.
|
