Bristol Databricks Meetup: Feb 2026

Alright Bristol, we’re finally here.

We’re buzzing to launch the Databricks Bristol Meetup and get the Bristol Databricks community together. Huge thanks to iO Associates for being our host and cheerleader in Bristol, and to Advancing Analytics and Databricks for backing the group and helping us build something that’s genuinely useful for practitioners.

Expect a relaxed evening of good people, practical Databricks chat, and proper networking (the kind where you actually meet people, not just collect LinkedIn connections you’ll never speak to again). Whether you’re deep in Spark, living your best Lakehouse life, or just Databricks-curious, you’re very welcome.

What to expect

• A friendly, community-first meetup (no sales, no nonsense)
• A quick Databricks “what’s new” segment to kick things off
• A keynote from Databricks
• Drinks, pizza, and plenty of time to chat with other data folks

Agenda
5.30pm – Arrival + networking drinks
6.00pm – Introduction from Simon Whiteley, followed by What’s new in Databricks
6.30pm – Keynote from Holly Smith (Databricks Staff Developer Advocate)
7.00pm – Drinks + pizza + networking

Venue
Hosted at iO Associates, Bristol. (St Bartholomew's House, Bristol BS1 2NH)
Spaces will be limited, so please RSVP. If you can’t make it, do update your RSVP so someone else can grab your spot.

Who should come?

• Data engineers, analysts, scientists, platform folks, architects
• People building on Databricks (or evaluating it)
• Anyone into modern data + AI and learning from others doing it for real