Welsh music venue in fight to remain open
Nation.Cymru staff
A much-loved grassroots music venue has made a renewed appeal for help to remain open – finding itself at a crucial moment in its fight for survival.
The venue, Paradise Garden, on City Road in Cardiff, has been open for three and a half years and has become a vital component of the Welsh capital’s creative community.
The venue’s sub-lease has come to an end, and in order to stay open with a new lease the venue is asking for help via Crowdfunder.
Writing on the Paradise Garden Instagram page, the owners of the intimate 100 capacity venue, David Bull and Esther Taylor, said: ‘After three and a half years of building PG from the ground up as a brand new fully independent grassroots music space in Cardiff, we’ve gone from testing the water as a pop-up to getting fully stuck in and making 213 City Road our home.
It’s certainly been a rollercoaster so far, but we are really proud of what we have achieved and believe PG has much more work to be done to serve Cardiff’s creative community.
It was a bit touch-and-go last year following some maintenance issues which closed us down for a few weeks, which was then followed by a quiet summer – but resilience is key for independents in the tough hospitality climate we are currently in and when we asked people to show up, you certainly have done since and we’ve been working hard behind the scenes to bounce back 💪
With everything heading in the right direction, we however have the issue of our sub-lease now coming to an end. We have negotiated with the landlord to stay with a brand new lease, but we still need to cover the costs required to stay.
We’ve launched a crowdfunder campaign and through it we hope to be able to raise a contribution towards securing our new lease.
We know it’s a tough economic climate for everyone, but if you are in a position to donate any amount, we will be eternally grateful for the help.’
To find out more and to donate click HERE
PG’s journey so far
In just three and a half years, Paradise Garden has established itself as an essential intimate grassroots music venue and creative hub in Cardiff, nestling naturally into the Welsh music ecosystem.
In that short time, they’ve managed to achieve a lot…
– Hosted around 850 live gigs, DJ events, and community-led gatherings, the vast majority being free entry.
– Given space to many first-time gigs and DJ sets.
– What was once the kitchen, currently houses Radio SUDD – a fantastic bi-lingual Welsh community radio station.
– Provided free space for charities such as Help Musicians, Chin Up, MEND and many more.
– Launched initiatives such as Blwm – DJ workshops for aspiring FLINTA* DJs.
– Became the home of collectives, charities, and communities including women’s social support charity Chin Up, jazz collectives Outer Worlds and Bamzu, producer meet up Beat Science, and electronic open mic night Plug Jam.
– Provided a location for many film projects and documentaries including BBC’s Black Music Wales documentary hosted by L E M F R E C K.
– Produced larger external events at The Gate and Jacob’s Market, with artists such as Kelly Moran and Tash LC.
– Invited internationally respected artists to our intimate space including Luke Una, Bradley Zero, and The Brian Jonestown Massacre.
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