The team behind Bristol’s BoxHall development have shared an update around the hotly-anticipated new venue’s opening. The long-awaited opening of the Bristol venue has been some years in the making, originally set to open in the summer of 2023.
However, it has faced several delays due to Covid-19 and other issues, pushing the opening back to ‘sometime in 2024’ and now 2025. Once open, it will boast a line-up of seven kitchens in the food hall and will ‘feature only the best local and independent food traders’, with the aim of offering ‘an all-day social dining experience’ that includes food, drink and events all under one roof.
As of yet, no official opening date has been confirmed, and the latest update from those behind the project say that this is still the case at this moment in time, but it’s looking likely to be the second half of the year at the earliest. The latest statement from the team, says: “We can’t wait to finally start on site in Bristol after the developer works finally completed late last year.
“However, due to these delays we need to schedule works in the city around other current opening plans for our new BoxHall City (in Liverpool Street) and Playbox (Wembley) schemes in the first part of this year. We look forward to confirming opening dates for BoxHall Bristol soon.”
In addition to its food offering, the venue will host a complementary events programme ‘showcasing the best of Bristol’s music scene’ throughout the week, as well as a mix of other cultural events. Its food ambassador is Josh Eggleton, chef patron of the multi-award winning restaurant, The Pony Chew Valley (formerly The Pony & Trap).
According to the team at BoxHall: “As a born and bred Bristolian and culinary entrepreneur having set up multiple food ventures, Josh is an incredibly active member of the city’s ever growing food scene. He will be working closely with the BoxHall team to ensure we partner with the very best of the Bristol food scene.”
It’s an idea that stems from the BoxPark venue in London’s Shoreditch, which opened its doors in October 2011 at Bishopsgate Goodsyard, near Shoreditch High Street station. It was dubbed the ‘world’s first pop-up mall’ and its success led to BoxPark opening sites in Croydon and Wembley, and later expanded beyond the capital with a site in Liverpool in early 2024.
Despite the original Shoreditch BoxPark closing in July 2024, the brand is still expanding. The current BoxPark at Wembley will be opening a ‘buzzing glow-in-the-dark games room with a bar’ on its top floor, called PlayBox.
But despite all of this, BoxHall Bristol is still set to arrive in the city. Watch this space for all the latest updates and news around opening dates as soon a we get them.