All the best pictures as Cardiff Music City Festival 2025 wraps up

Cardiff Music City Festival – a two-week celebration of music that brought global stars, local legends, fresh new talent and thousands of music fans to venues across the city – has wrapped up after a successful second year.

The festival will return for its third year in Autumn 2026.

Spanning 20 venues, 60 events and featuring performances from over 200 artists, the 2025 festival programme of gigs, installations, talks and pop-ups opened with a sold-out performance by acclaimed Welsh band CVC at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama.

Cardiff Council Cabinet Member for Culture, Parks and Events, Cllr Jennifer Burke, said: "Music is Cardiff’s beating heart and that’s never been truer than during this year’s festival.

“Our city is fast-becoming one the UK’s most exciting music destinations and there’s certainly been some incredible music for audiences to enjoy, but the impact of the festival goes deeper than that – it helps support our independent venues, provides a valuable platform for local artists and celebrates our scene.”

Swn, Llais and the Welsh Music Prize all once again proudly formed part of the Cardiff Music City Festival alongside a range of specially curated programme of events in venues across Cardiff city centre and beyond.

Unforgettable moments included:

legendary bass player Pino Palladino being awarded the Welsh Music Inspiration Award 2025 at the annual Welsh Music Prize ceremony;

Llais hosting triumphant shows from Rufus Wainwright and Cate Le Bon;

storming sets from Getdown Services, Moonchild Sanelly, Georgia Ruth, Gruff Rhys and more, at annual new music festival Swn;

Mixmag DJ of the Year Max Dean ripping up the Depot dancefloor;

Ishamel Ensemble blending jazz and electronica with 360° visuals at CULTVR;

a mass disco singalong at St John’s Church;

and the three-night transformation of Cardiff Market into a music, art and light-filled foodie hub complete with a Radio Sudd takeover featuring a DJ set from 2025 Welsh Music Prize winner Don Leisure.

Supported by Welsh Government and Cardiff Council, the festival builds on the success of Cardiff’s ‘summer of music’ which saw hundreds of thousands of music fans attended outdoor concerts in the city, bringing millions of pounds in economic benefits with them.

The festival is a key part of Cardiff Council’s long-term music strategy which aims to maximise the cultural, economic, social and wellbeing benefits of music and make Cardiff a ‘music city.’

Key achievements of the strategy so far include:

• helping secure the future of Clwb Ifor Bach.
• establishing the Cardiff Music Board.
• ensuring the music board is consulted on all planning applications that could impact on music venues.
• supporting the city’s grassroots venues through the pandemic.
• helping independent venue Porters find a new home.
• supporting the opening of grassroots venue The Canopi.
• Introducing a new talent development scheme in schools.
• appointing the city’s first dedicated music officer.
• working with partners to bring global music stars including Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Foo Fighters, Stevie Wonder, The Cure and Oasis to Cardiff.
• investing £200,000 in the city’s venues through the first round of a new Grassroots Venues Fund.
• Opening applications for round two of the Grassroots Venues Fund, thanks in part to income generated for the Council by last summer’s Blackweir Fields concerts.
• working with AMG to secure the future of St David’s Hall and bring a new Academy venue to Wales.
• supporting the development of a new 16,500 capacity arena in Cardiff Bay.

Image credit: 4Pi Productions, Anne Siegel, Ren Faulkner, Charlie Barclay Harris, Jamie Chapman, Llais, Welsh Music Prize