Sŵn Festival (''sŵn'' is

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

for "sound, noise", ) is a music festival founded by

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

Huw Stephens Huw Meredydd Stephens (born 25 May 1981) is a Welsh radio and television presenter, currently broadcasting on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru and BBC Radio 6 Music. Stephens founded the Sŵn music festival with John Rostron and the yearly s ...

and Cardiff-based promoter John Rostron. The festival takes place annually in Stephens' hometown of

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. The first Sŵn Festival took place in November 2007. Bands playing included

The Cribs The Cribs are a British indie rock band originally from Wakefield, West Yorkshire, that formed in 2001. The band consists of twins Gary and Ryan Jarman and their younger brother Ross Jarman. They were subsequently joined by ex-The Smiths guit ...

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, David Holmes,

Edwyn Collins Edwyn Stephen Collins (born 23 August 1959) is a Scottish musician, producer and record label owner from Edinburgh, Scotland. Collins was the lead singer for the 1980s post-punk band Orange Juice, which he co-founded. After the group split in ...

and

Cherry Ghost Cherry Ghost were an English music group which began in 2006, first as an alias for singer-songwriter Simon Aldred as a solo artist, before morphing into a full band. Their debut album, ''Thirst for Romance'', was released in July 2007 and ente ...

with DJs including Annie Mac. Music is the festival's core medium. Stephens' eclectic musical taste is reflected in the diversity of the artists performing, and Welsh language bands are well represented on the line-up. The 2008 festival took place on 14–16 November 2008. Bands playing included Golden Silvers, Truckers of Husk, Micachu and the Shapes,

Little Comets Little Comets are an English indie rock trio from Jarrow and Washington, Tyne and Wear. They are described as playing "kitchen sink indie" music. In early 2009 the band were signed to Columbia Records following numerous gigs in strange locati ...

Young Marble Giants Young Marble Giants were a Welsh post-punk band formed in Cardiff, Wales, in 1978. Their music was based around the vocals of Alison Statton along with the minimalist instrumentation of brothers Philip and Stuart Moxham. Their early sound was ...

Euros Childs Euros Childs (; Welsh: ; born 16 April 1975) is a Welsh musician and songwriter, perhaps best known as the frontman for the band Gorky's Zygotic Mynci and—as of January 2019—the keyboardist for Teenage Fanclub. His sister, violinist Megan C ...

, Colorama, Sweet Baboo and

Rob Da Bank Robert John Gorham (born 24 June 1973 in Portsmouth, Hampshire), known by the pseudonym Rob da Bank, is an English DJ and co-founder of music festivals Bestival, originally on the Isle of Wight and now moved to Lulworth, Dorset and Camp Bestiv ...

. The 2009 festival took place on 22–24 October 2009.

Dananananaykroyd Dananananaykroyd was a Scottish six-piece, self-dubbed 'Fight Pop' band formed in 2006 in Glasgow, Scotland. Their name is a play on the name of Canadian-American actor Dan Aykroyd. They announced via Facebook and Twitter on 29 September 2011 ...

Johnny Foreigner Johnny Foreigner are an indie rock four-piece from Birmingham, UK, consisting of guitarist and lead vocalist Alexei Berrow, bassist and vocalist Kelly Parker (née Southern), drummer Junior Elvis Washington Laidley, and guitarist and visual ar ...

, Copy Haho, Munch Munch,

the Drums The Drums are an American indie pop band from New York City. Formation Founding members Jonathan (Jonny) Pierce and Jacob Graham became friends as children, having met at Bible camp at age 11 or 12. Some years later, they formed a short-lived ...

Longcut The Longcut are an English rock band, formed in 2002 in Manchester. Career The Longcut formed in Manchester in 2002, while attending the University of Manchester. Originally a four-piece, their vocalist left soon after the band started and the ...

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, Gaggle (band), Gaggle, the Twilight Sad, Cate Le Bon, Talons (band), Talons, Sweet Baboo, and Cardiff-based band Los Campesinos! played. Venues used in 2009 were Chapter Arts Centre, Barfly, City Arms, Clwb Ifor Bach, Dempseys, Y Fuwch Goch, The Model Inn, The Toucan, Cardiff University Students Union, The Gate, The Vulcan, Cardiff, The Vulcan and the National Museum Cardiff. Sŵn festival 2013 took place in October in Cardiff City Centre with new venues added including the Sherman Theatre & the Angel Hotel, Cardiff, Angel Hotel. This edition of the event won the "Best Small Festival" accolade at the NME awards in 2014. The 2015 edition of Sŵn Festival was also nominated for "Best Small Festival" at the NME Awards. In 2018 it was announced that Clwb Ifor Bach would take over the running of the festival as Stephens and Rostron departed.

References

External links

Sŵn festival official site
Music festivals in Wales Rock festivals in the United Kingdom Recurring events established in 2007 Festivals in Cardiff Annual events in Wales Music in Cardiff Autumn events in Wales {{music-festival-stub