Presented by female-led Bristol arts collective Popelei, PAPAYA Fest 2026 will run 9–17 October across The Wardrobe Theatre, Old Market Assembly, GiGi’s Pizza and East Bristol Books with support from Arts Council England.
Founded in 2019, PAPAYA Fest has built a reputation for bold performances, big conversations and even bigger parties. Celebrating the exchange between Latin American and British cultures, the festival returns for its fourth edition with an ambitious programme of theatre, music, film, food and debate.
This year’s theme, Radical Togetherness, runs throughout. From communal dining to social dancing, PAPAYA explores how shared experiences can turn strangers into friends at a moment when bringing people together feels quietly radical. Everyone is welcome. Grab a festival passport on the way in. No borders. No visas. No questions.
“PAPAYA Fest feels like stepping into my abuela’s house. There’s always food on the table, music in the background and three conversations happening at once. People drop in, stay longer than they meant to, and somehow there’s always room for one more. Family can be complicated, but underneath it all there’s love. That’s what makes PAPAYA special.”
Tamsin Hurtado Clarke, Artistic Director
This year’s programme moves from South American revolutionaries to gay saunas, from AI romance to the manosphere. The festival opens with international hit Manuelita, the story of revolutionary icon Manuela Sáenz and her role in South America’s fight for independence. Presented in Spanish for the first time. Showcasing new writing, the programme hosts three Bristol debuts. Winds Of The People explores the history of resistance across Latin America through folk songs while SPUNK is a fresh, dark comedy set inside gay saunas spanning sixty years of queer history. Returning clown duo Dre Spisto and Joana Nastari present Tear Us Apart Again exploring intimacy and love in the age of algorithms.
This year’s debate night asks Do Men Matter? bringing us together to discuss feminism, machismo and the rise of the manosphere. Festival favourite Juicy Bits returns: part experiment, part endurance challenge, pairing artists from Bristol and Latin America who have never met and giving them just 48 hours to create a performance together.
The Opening Night Fiesta will feature Bristol’s very own Afro-Cuban big band K’Chevere, before DJ KSlice takes us late into the night. The Closing Night Fiesta is headlined by queen of Brazilian dancehall Lei Di Dai before we get sweaty with DJ La Popelei and a very special invited guest.
A PAPAYA Passport will be handed to all attendees as a playful festival-wide challenge encouraging audiences to collect stamps, explore the full programme and discover unexpected experiences along the way.