Cardiff Music City supports music venues across the city, having recently awarded capital funding to grassroots spaces that assists venue improvement work and essential new equipment purchases through the Grassroots Venues Fund.
The funding forms part of Cardiff Council’s work to protect and develop the city’s music sector which has also seen a new talent development scheme launched in the city’s schools, the launch of a new ‘Academi’ for young musicians, and the first ever Cardiff Music City Festival take place.
We’ll be profiling the people behind some of our key venues in a series of specially commissioned films captured by Cardiff-based filmmaker Ren Faulkner (External link).
See below, and be sure to check back for more film releases in the coming weeks, or follow us on our social channels.
Supported by Cardiff Music City / Cardiff Council / UK Government Wales
THE NEW MOON, WOMANBY STREET
Set in the city’s iconic Womanby Street, The New Moon opened in January 2025 with a mission to blend the legendary history of The Moon with a fresh focus on urban sounds and local talent. They are creating a space where rising artists share the stage with established acts, and when the gigs end, the night keeps going with DJ sets spinning Motown, soul and more. Positioned as the heartbeat of Cardiff’s cultural revival, the team are here to push MOBO and electronic music to the forefront, and build a space where fresh talent can grow and Cardiff’s creative energy can thrive.
We spoke to Reem Mohammed, Event Programmer at the New Moon, who reflects on the power of live music and why it’s so important to the venue team and personally:
“You’re in a room full of people that love the same song and you’re singing along to the same song, it’s just a beautiful thing.”
Hear more from Reem, and about the support received from Cardiff Council’s Music City initiative above.
PARADISE GARDEN, CITY ROAD
Paradise Garden is a unique, relaxed cafe, bar and dancefloor for music lovers in the heart of City Road. It’s a space to meet up for coffee and cocktails, with Cardiff’s only audiophile soundsystem plus live music and djs every week. Founded by the incredibly passionate and dedicated David Bull and Esther Taylor, in this film Hunter reflects on the power of music communities in the city:
“Going to a live show, especially here in an intimate venue like this, it’s bringing all these people (together) that are coming up in the music business…able to share their craft with the community.”
And, as well as a nod given to the valued support from Cardiff Music City, Esther also highlights inclusivity ambitions at their city venue,
“I wanted to open the space up to people that are a bit older. So there isn’t this sense that after you hit a certain age, you can’t go out and you can’t enjoy music. I really think that music has no age limit.”
CANOPI, TUDOR STREET
A vibrant, grassroots space where creativity takes root and ideas come to life. Situated on the ground floor of The Sustainable Studios on Tudor Street, you can rely on a dynamic lineup of events, from live music, fashion shows, exhibitions and workshops throughout the programme — there’s something for every creative soul!
Julia Harris, one founders of The Sustainable Studio / Canopi, took some time out of their busy day (and night!) running the venue to tell us more about the fantastic venue.
“We’ve had such an eclectic lineup of events so far”
and countless fans of the venue who’ve already been through the doors would surely agree.
“Cardiff Council…have just been instrumental into us getting open. I think we have tapped into some amazing grants that have allowed us to kind of, you know, make the venue accessible and also buy new kit as well.”
The space is a much-welcomed (and already much-loved) starter venue for acts from the capital and beyond, but also has seen very well-established musicians like Gruff Rhys on its stage, who recently played warm-up shows for his American Interior tour at Canopi.
Gruff sums up the love for venues such as Canopi in Cardiff on the film, saying
“…Experiencing music as part of an audience and experiencing music in a live setting is really cathartic.”
Established by Cardiff Council, the Grassroots Venues Fund was supported by the UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund.
Music fans can help our local scene in many ways….
** Firstly, by going to shows! Take a chance on a new band. Visit venues’ websites/socials, explore highlights from the ON THE RADAR team, or search by genre at ‘Diff Music. Plus, look across Buzz Magazine, It’s On Cardiff and more for inspiration…and check out your favourite up-and-coming bands playing unforgettable nights.
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** Buying tickets in advance really helps the promoter, the venue and artists have confidence that there’s enough demand for the show to go ahead. Buying tickets on the door, on the night, is more often more expensive than purchasing from the venue’s website for example. We’ve heard stories of substantial numbers of on-the-door sales meaning venues might be understaffed on their bars, or shows actually being cancelled with the assumption of a low interest.
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Musicians and budding promoters…
** Want to put on shows? Check out our Resources page.
** Want to take your band to next level? There are some great organisations that can help! From Gorwelion/Horizons and Beacons Cymru to Anthem and Creative Wales. See our Resources page for links!
** Hear from venue owners, musicians and promoters in Cardiff! Our Behind The Scene features are constantly growing, and get in touch if you’d like to be considered for a profile!
** Join the Cardiff Music City mailing list! For updates on Cardiff Music City initiatives (such as our ALLBWN/OUTPUT promoters’ scheme), music industry news, opportunities and more.
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