Bristol in Pictures: City welcomes the world cup

Five people, two men and three women, cheer and raise their arms in the air. They are all wearing the same outfit of multicoloured polka dot plastic skirts over dark shorts and white T shirts with small coloured dots on them. They are all holding what looks like pints of beer and behind them Bristol's harbourside ampitheatre is visibleJulia Preece Photography

Rugby fans have been enjoying the world cup fanzone on the Harbourside

Steve Mellen
in Bristol

All roads led to Ashton Gate this weekend as tens of thousands of ticket holders prepared to watch two quarter-finals in the Women's Rugby World Cup - with England coming to town on Sunday.

It may have been a week ago, but people living around Victoria Park in the south of the city are not likely to forget the Krazy Races event in a hurry.

At Cribbs, staff have been preparing for the 'greatest dog show on earth' as the various sculptures that were part of the Gromit Unleashed 3 trail are now assembled together before being sold.

And a special reading challenge involving thousands of pupils in South Gloucestershire schools has come to an end.

Two England's women rugby players, wearing light blue tops and dark shorts, clash as one tackles the other as she runs with the ball during a training session in Bristol.PA Media

Getting ready: England's women have been putting in the hard yards during training in Bristol this week ahead of the Rugby World Cup quarter-final against Scotland at Ashton Gate on Sunday.

A large group of people, many of them in fancy dress costumes, stand under a finish line hoop which has a purple check pattern. A row of straw bales is seen on each side of a tarmac path leading up to where the people are standing. The event is a Krazy Races meeting in Victoria Park in Bristol.Krazy Races
Four people in inflatable grey mouse costumes are seen with a home-made kart which is shaped to look like a piece of cheese. One of the mice is sitting inside the kart so only their head is visible. Behind them some spectators can be seen milling about at the event, the Krazy Races, in Victoria Park in Bristol.Krazy Races
A solitary home-made cart, in the shape of a tube, with two people in it, races away from the camera as part of the Krazy Races event in Victoria Park in Bristol. Dozens of people can be seen either side of the tarmac track, which is bordered with bales of straw. There are also metal railings keeping the crowd back.Krazy Races

Off the wall: Hundreds of people gathered in Victoria Park last Sunday to watch the Krazy Races event, which saw many an eye-catching kart racing around between the trees. The event raised £20,000 for charities in Bristol.

A young woman with brown hair and a grey scarf around her neck leans close to a sculpture of Aardman character Wallace, which is part of a display of Gromit Unleashed 3 at Cribbs Causeway in Bristol. The Wallace sculpture is wearing a green jacket and red bow tie and is holding a large cup of tea.Ambitious PR

Paw-some: The Gromit Unleashed 3 sculptures are off the streets and assembled at Cribbs Causeway under the title The Greatest Dog Show on Earth until 28 September. They will then be auctioned to raise money for The Grand Appeal.

A group of male footballers wearing pink tops and black shorts stand in a circle as one player, who has dark hair and a beard, gives them instructions before a Downs League game in Bristol.PA Media
A player in a dark purple top and black shorts shoots a football across a goalkeeper in a white top with black shorts and towards a goal with a net. In the shot are other players from the shooter's team and their opponents, who are in orange tops and black shorts. The game is played as part of the Downs League in Bristol and several other matches can be seen going on in the background, along with a line of trees.PA Media

Historic: The multiple teams that compete in the Downs League are back in action now, carrying the weekly football contest that can trace its roots back nearly 120 years.

Two men, both with lots of tattoos and one with a shaved head and beard and the other with short ginger hair and no beard, grimace as they fight during a bareknuckle boxing event in Bristol.PA Media

Rolling with the punches: Bareknuckle boxers Paul Hitz and Dean Patterson were some of the competitors at BKB 45 at Planet Ice in Bristol last weekend.

Three Bristol Rovers players embrace tightly as they celebrate a goal during their match with Barrow at the Memorial Stadium.Bristol Rovers FC

On a roll: Bristol Rovers fans have enjoyed the arrival of autumn, with their 2-1 win over Barrow at the Mem on Saturday earning them a fourth league win in a row.

A grey statue of a man wearing a hooded top, trousers and trainers is seen inside an alcove in a stone wall. He has his head in his hands. Next to him, although not 100% visible, is a smaller grey statue of a bear.

An enduring message: Five years on after it was installed on Jacob's Wells Road to mark World Suicide Prevention Day, the anonymous artist behind the artwork Bear With Me has said the message of the sculptures is as important as ever.

A group of primary school children and a handful of teachers line up in three rows as they face the camera. They are holding up certificates with yellow emblems on them that they were given at the end of a summer holiday reading challenge.South Gloucestershire Council

Book time: More than 5,500 children from schools across South Gloucestershire read an incredible 85,000 books between them as part of the 2025 Sumer Reading Challenge run by the council.

Two young women wearing blue jeans and dark tops crouch over grey paving stones on which they are creating an artwork with colourful elements such as different shapes and the outlines of hands.Bristol City Centre BID

Ground level: A new artwork called Our Common Ground - created by a team led by artist Oshii - is on its way to being completed in the city centre, where the fountains used to be. The art is being commissioned by Bristol City Council, the Bristol City Centre Business Improvement District and curated by the Bristol Legacy Foundation and Upfest.

An art gallery with dozens of paintings on its walls and in the foreground on a small plinth is a collection of what appear to be dark ribbons meshed together in piles. The floor of the gallery - the RWA in Bristol - is of light wooden boards.RWA

Save the dates: The RWA's Annual Open Exhibition is now under way, with the work of multiple artists on display until 28 December.

A group of four people, three women and one man, sit around a plain white table as they crochet red roses as part of a promotion for the Women's Rugby World Cup. They are in a room with a grey carpet and are sitting on plain grey chairs. The table is covered in red roses they have made.

Up for the cup: People have been taking part in crochet classes at places like St George's Hall, making red roses to show their support for England's rugby players as the women's tournament comes to the city.

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