Christopher BarrettThe BBC 6 Music Festival, which commences today in Cardiff, is another step on the road to the Welsh capital establishing itself as the UK’s music city, according to leader of Cardiff Council and chair of the Cardiff Music Board Cllr Huw Thomas.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity for Cardiff and Wales-based artists, so when the BBC approached us to do the festival in Cardiff we grabbed it with both hands. We have had a music strategy in the city for a couple of years to be the UK’s music city and that is why we are investing in a new indoor arena, among other things,” said Thomas.
The multi-venue festival, which will run throughout this weekend, will include live performances, DJ sets and Q&A sessions featuring acts including Pixies, Little Simz, Khruangbin, Father John Misty & members of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Idles, Johnny Marr, Cat Power, David Holmes, Gruff Rhys, Gwenno and Wet Leg.
Approximately 160 Welsh acts will perform at the event, which includes the 6 Music Festival Fringe strand created in partnership with Creative Wales.
Among the Cardiff venues involved in the main event are St. David’s Hall (cap. 2,000), The Great Hall (1,600) and Y Plas (1,200) in Cardiff University Students’ Union, and Tramshed (1,000).
“We are expecting an audience of around 12,500 across the event. That’s obviously smaller than a 70,000-attendance rugby match in the Principality Stadium but it is important in that it is bringing Cardiff to a new audience and emphasising what the city has to offer,” said Thomas.
The shows will be broadcast on 6 Music, which has a reach of 2.6 million listeners (Rajar Q4, 2021), along with BBC Radio Wales and BBC Four.