Sŵn Festival (''sŵn'' is
Welsh for "sound, noise", ) is a
music festival
A music festival is a festival, community event with music, performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock music, rock, blues, folk music, folk, jazz, classical music), nation ...
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 Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...
DJ
Huw Stephens and Cardiff-based promoter John Rostron. The festival takes place annually in Stephens' hometown of
Cardiff
Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...
,
Wales
Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
. 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 Jarman, Gary and Ryan Jarman and their younger brother Ross Jarman. They were subsequently joined by ex-The ...
,
Beirut
Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...
,
David Holmes,
Edwyn Collins and
Cherry Ghost 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,
Young Marble Giants,
Euros Childs,
Colorama,
Sweet Baboo and
Rob Da Bank.
The 2009 festival took place on 22–24 October 2009.
Dananananaykroyd,
Johnny Foreigner, Copy Haho, Munch Munch,
the Drums
The Drums is an American indie pop band/project from New York City. It was initially formed by Jonathan Pierce and Jacob Graham as Goat Explosion, and later added Adam Kessler and Connor Hanwick. Graham exited the band in 2016. Since then, ...
,
Longcut,
Girls,
Gaggle,
the Twilight Sad,
Cate Le Bon,
Talons,
Sweet Baboo, and Cardiff-based band
Los Campesinos!
Los Campesinos! are a seven-piece indie pop band from Cardiff, Wales, formed in early 2006 at Cardiff University. The band has seen several lineup changes– lead vocalist Gareth David Paisey and guitarists Neil Turner and Tom Bromley are the o ...
played. Venues used in 2009 were
Chapter Arts Centre
Chapter Arts Centre (often just referred to as Chapter) is an arts centre in Canton, Cardiff, Canton, Cardiff, Wales, opened in 1971.
Description
Chapter hosts films, Play (theatre), plays, performance art and live music, and includes a free ar ...
, Barfly, City Arms,
Clwb Ifor Bach, Dempseys, Y Fuwch Goch, The Model Inn, The Toucan, Cardiff University Students Union, The Gate,
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 Sherman Theatre () is a venue in the Cathays district of Cardiff. It was built as a twin-auditorium venue in 1973 with financial support from University College Cardiff (now Cardiff University). Sherman Cymru was the name of the Sherman Thea ...
& the
Angel Hotel. This edition of the event won the "Best Small Festival" accolade at the
NME awards
The ''NME'' Awards is an annual music awards show in the United Kingdom, founded by the music magazine ''NME'' (''New Musical Express''). The first awards show was held in 1953 as the ''NME'' Poll Winners Concerts, shortly after the founding o ...
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 in Wales
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