What is Cardiff Music City Festival?
- Get ready for three weeks of gigs, immersive happenings, residencies, installations and pop-ups, pushing the boundaries of music innovation, performance and tech. Welcome to the Cardiff Music City Festival, reinventing what a music festival can be.
- Cardiff Music City Festival is supported by Welsh Government and Cardiff Council.
When and where is the festival?
- The inaugural Cardiff Music City Festival takes place across the capital city of Wales from September 27th until October 20th 2024. The opening night features Leftfield and Orbital (plus special guests) at Utilita Arena Cardiff.
- Aiming to attract over 20,000 people, the festival will bring together talent both international and local, including household names and emerging, startling talent. Its festival site stretches and sprawls through a labyrinth of spaces, busy streets and quieter corners, through Cardiff’s dynamic city centre to the glistening river mouth and freshwater lake of Cardiff Bay.
- Venues involved also include Llandaff Cathedral, Wales Millennium Centre, The Great Hall, Tramshed, Clwb Ifor Bach, CULTVR, Cornerstone, The Moon, Fuel, Porters and Depot, as well as reimagined public spaces. The renowned new music festival Sŵn (fast approaching its twentieth year) and Wales Millennium Centre’s international arts weekend, Llais (celebrating the diversity of voices around the globe and across genres) will become vital parts of this bigger, ambitious endeavour.
- Especially commissioned urban soundscapes, a tech and talent conference, industry sessions and a bustling fringe programme will add extra layers of rhythm and noise to the festival’s progressive, enthusiastic reach. Cardiff Music City festival nights will also bring together some big names in the industry with tomorrow’s exploding talents.
- Intending to challenge, excite and inspire fans across generations and genres, and provide platforms and showcases for radical ideas, sounds and collaborations the Cardiff Music City Festival will break new ground in disruptive, diverting, spectacular ways. It will also skyrocket the spirits of a whole city, delivering synchronised collective experiences, turning up the volume in a mass celebration of what music can be and what – in our wildest, loudest dreams – it can do.
What events are happening as part of the festival?
- The opening night features Leftfield and Orbital (plus special guests) at Utilita Arena Cardiff.
- The renowned new music festival Sŵn (fast approaching its twentieth year) and Wales Millennium Centre’s international arts weekend, Llais (celebrating the diversity of voices around the globe and across genres) will become vital parts of this bigger, ambitious endeavour.
- Over the next few months, a thriving programme of artists will be unveiled, but for now be sure to save the date and make plans to visit Cardiff during this time to experience the beginning of something very, very special.
- For updates, check back here on our website, sign up to our mailing list, follow us on our social channels.
How do I buy tickets?
- Tickets for individual parts of the session are available to purchase via our WHAT’S ON page.
- Tickets for opening night (Leftfield/Orbital at Utilita Arena Cardiff) are purchased through Ticketmaster.
- Sŵn Festival offer a number of ticket options including a 3 day pass, 2 day pass and concessionary rates.
- Llais shows are charged per event, with discounts for multi-show purchases.
How do I get to Cardiff?
- Cardiff is an easily accessible city. With so many ways to travel here, there’s really no excuse not to pay us a visit. Cardiff has it’s very own airport; high-speed rail links from London; the M4 motorway passes the north of the city; and you can even arrive on a ship! We’d love to welcome you, so what are you waiting for?
- Visit our GETTING HERE page for more information.
Where can I park?
- We encourage using public transport wherever possible.
- Parking options can be found on Visit Cardiff’s site HERE
Are there age restrictions?
- There are a number of different types of events across the festival, aimed at a variety of audiences.
- Please check the event you wish to attend in our WHAT’S ON for guidance.
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