“A great success": Music festival brings nearly £3.5m

Cardiff’s biggest ever music festival brought nearly £3.5m to the city and attracted over 60,000 attendees, according to figures released by Cardiff Council.

Cardiff Music City Festival, supported by Welsh Government and Cardiff Council, saw more than 200 artists perform in 25 venues between September 27 and October 20 last year.

The line up included international artists, including Pino Palladino, Kneecap and Lauryn Hill, as well as local talent such as Aleighcia Scott, Elkka, Mace the Great, Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard and N’famady Kouyate.

In a council meeting on January 30, Labour councillor Jennifer Burke, cabinet member for culture, sports and parks confirmed that the first-time festival attracted 61,700 people - including over 8,500 visitors from outside of Wales.

Cllr Burke, who represents Llandaff North added there was a “direct economic impact of £3,495,534 for the city,” and that it had also created “hundreds of opportunities for musicians” along with “significant investment” and volunteer and student placements.

Cllr Burke continued: “It is clear this pilot music festival was a great success and made a significant impact on the music sector in Cardiff.”

Key project to help “maximise the economic and social value of music”

In 2019, Cardiff Council published a music strategy and established the Cardiff Music Board to support the city's music scene - the inaugural Cardiff Music City Festival was a key project.

On the strategy, leader of Cardiff Council and chair of the Cardiff music board, Cllr Huw Thomas, said: “Music does a number of things for towns and cities. It creates jobs in itself. It creates a reason to be somewhere. It attracts visitors. It provides us with a sense of identity. And we also cannot ignore that music for music’s sake is a good thing.

Labour councillor Thomas, who represents Splott continued: “Cardiff is a city of artists, musicians, singers, producers, sound engineers, and of course, music lovers. All part of a wider creative community that is second to none in Britain, and who help make Cardiff one the most creative and inventive cities in the world.

“We’ve got talent, we’ve got venues, we’ve got spirit and we’ve got a cultural distinctiveness that sets us apart. Our Music Strategy will look at how we can maximise the economic and social value of music through collaboration.”