Cardiff music festival celebrates record breaking success as summer of music comes to an end

Amelia Jones 

Organisers are celebrating after successfully completing their biggest ever run of live music in Cardiff.

A massive 360,000 people, almost the population of the city, have seen a live concert at Cardiff Castle and Blackweir Fields since June, and the team behind both series, Cardiff’s Depot Live and UK promoters Cuffe and Taylor, are heralding the summer a huge success, with plans to do it all over again next year.

Twenty-nine nights and almost 100 artists representing attracted fans from Cardiff and beyond, with many shows across the summer run completely sold out.

The 24 shows at the 9,000-capacity Cardiff Castle attracted 193,000 people, while the larger Blackweir, with a capacity of 35,000, attracted 165,000 people over five nights.

The sun set on the season this weekend with two sold-out shows at the castle from US rock bands Hollywood Vampires and Jimmy Eat World.

Depot Live founder Nick Saunders said it was the perfect ending, adding: “What an incredible way to end our summer than with two bands that epitomise rock

“We started this year already knowing we had a record-breaking summer ahead of us with the number of shows taking place across both Blackweir and the castle, and with many of those shows selling out, we are delighted to report we have sold 360,000 tickets.

“What’s more, the variety of shows we have had means we are reaching more music fans than ever before. From rock, dance, pop and indie to rap, grime, punk and electronic music, there really has been something for everyone this summer and that is so important in our programming that we continue to attract a broad range of artists.”

Love live music

Cuffe and Taylor promoter Julian Murray commented: “We love Cardiff and it is clear that Cardiff loves live music.

“This has been an incredible summer for these two very special venues and we are now working to ensure we bring even more globally renowned musicians to the city next year.”

Cardiff Castle has seen 24 headline shows over the course of the summer. It kicked off with a sold-out show from House music tastemaker Chris Stussy in early June and along with the opening show, dance music fans also enjoyed headliner shows from Pete Tong’s Ibiza Classics, Sammy Virji, and garage and grime legend The Streets.

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Fans of rock have enjoyed multiple nights with the likes of Scottish icons Biffy Clyro, Irish rockers Two Door Cinema Club, Alter Bridge’s inaugural Blackbird Festival and this weekend’s outings from Jimmy Eat World and Hollywood Vampires.

Punk titans Sex Pistols featuring Frank Carter rocked the city to the core, along with Texan pop punk legends Bowling for Soup and folk punk royalty Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls, while the castle also welcomed a myriad of global pop stars and music icons from multiple genres including Katy Perry, Billy Ocean, David Byrne, MIKA, David Gray, Ethel Cain, Self Esteem, Empire of the Sun, Garbage and Skunk Anansie, Bastille, MCFLY, Richard Ashcroft and The Wombats.

Meanwhile across Bute Park at Blackweir Fields, five huge nights saw rock legends The Cure kick off the series with a sold-out 35,000 capacity show.

Vocal powerhouse Teddy Swims followed with another sell-out, while global superstar Lewis Capaldi played two nights and the series ended with a sea of bald caps when Cardiff welcomed GRAMMY Award-winning rapper Pitbull.

Significant appeal 

While economic data for summer 2026 is not yet available, newly released tourism figures for 2025 show Cardiff’s visitor economy was already growing strongly before this year’s programme of concerts.

In 2025, Cardiff attracted 18.69 million visitors, an increase of 4.4% on the previous year and almost 800,000 more visits than in 2024. Tourism’s economic impact also rose by 6.7% to £1.86 billion.

Cabinet Member for Culture, Tourism and Events, Cllr Jennifer Burke, said: “Over the past few months we’ve seen Cardiff Castle and Blackweir Fields once again welcome tens of thousands of music fans.

“We already know that in 2025, concerts at Blackweir Fields alone resulted in an additional 700,000 visits to eating and drinking premises in the city, while the latest tourism figures show nearly 19 million visits to the city that year, supporting more than 12,100 full-time equivalent jobs.

“Taken together, those figures suggest that our focus on music, alongside sporting and other events is helping to strengthen Cardiff’s already significant appeal as a destination and supporting the city’s economy.”

Details of who will be headlining at both venues next year will be revealed over the coming months. To stay updated visit depotlive.co.uk and blackweirlive.com

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