Sŵn Festival unveils the first batch of names for its 2024 edition. The multi-venue festival is taking place across the Welsh capital from Thursday October 17th to Saturday October 19th. This year’s iteration of the festival sees Sŵn become a proud partner of Cardiff Music City Festival: a three week-long celebration of innovative, accomplished music coming to the city, full of gigs, immersive happenings, residencies, installations, and pop-ups, pushing the boundaries of music, performance and tech.
While this year’s edition is suitably bulked out, with all three days featuring showcases at a plethora of venues across the city, what’s not changed is Sŵn’s dedication to nurturing a diverse range of local, national, and international talent and offering a platform.
Bringing his anarchic spirit to the streets of Cardiff is Wu-Lu, the Brixton born and raised artist forcing punk, grunge and hip-hop into a head-on collision. Bursting forth from the rage of being priced out of his South London community, the intensity and bruised emotion of his Warp Records debut album LOGGERHEAD. He performs with scathing intensity: a force that must be seen to be believed.
Hailed by Rolling Stone UK as “a band with limitless potential and the ability to go anywhere”, English Teacher’s sound encompasses collegiate emo-rock, dream-pop and psychedelia which will grab you by the collar and demand your attention. Their debut album This Could Be Texas has been praised across the board. Witness the wonder for yourself.
Shining a lens on girlhood and stardom is London-based multidisciplinary artist and the internet’s original pop princess, Hannah Diamond. As a founding member of PC Music, she has played a foundational role in redefining pop music itself, blurring the lines between feeling both mainstream and underground. With the release of her gleaming new album Perfect Picture, behold a visionary artist building worlds before your very eyes.
Porij invite you to take a leap beyond seeing dance music as a genre, built from this type of kick or that type of snare, and instead as its own dimension: a place you can escape to. Their long-awaited debut album Teething commands a lineage of sounds from UK garage to drum’n’bass and deep house. With generous helpings of pop stirred into the mix, Porij are bringing their distinct flavour to the Cardiff’s dancefloor.
Joining them is Mary In The Junkyard, the “angry, weepy chaos rock” trio whose mesmerising performances have become the stuff of live-circuit legend. Part of the band’s immersive storytelling are props including “Brian the face”, as well as a papier-mâché mushroom and spine – such is the dislocating and fascinatingly off-kilter world you’re invited to step into.
What started as poetry performances on intimate stages led to skilfully crafted melodies to accompany his words – and from there, a dance-driven blend of hip-hop and UK garage to back them up. Now, Antony Szmierek is one of our most captivating storytellers. Meant to move your heart as well as your body, his show is not to be missed.
The elusive and much-hyped London band, The Itch, decode their mystique with a performance at this year’s festival. Their live show is nevertheless punked-up and politically charged: a band which demands attention.
Adding to a line-up already bursting at the seams, you’ll find the theatrical, character-driven wit of Ellie Bleach, the internet-warped pop of Twst and the frenetic, experimental guitar pop of Blue Bendy. Joining them in Cardiff will be Clara Mann, with her gossamer harmonies and gentle complexity, alongside one-man-band Tom Vek with his singular electro-punk sound and DIY emo-rockers UNIVERSITY.
Sŵn Festival has always devoted itself to showcasing local, grassroots talent. We will be treated to the grisly garage-rock and pop sensibilities of Cardiff natives Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard, the Welsh-language indie-rockers Adwaith and rising stars Half Happy who walk the line between heavy and heavenly.
This year will also shine a spotlight on Pys Melyn, whose laid-back melodies and wistful psychedelia earned them a Welsh Music Prize nomination, as well as Aberystwyth-born rockers Mellt and the alt-pop wonder Hana Lili whose landslide critical support led to supporting Coldplay and Tom Grennan.
For the first time since before the pandemic, this year’s festival is multi-venue for all three days promising an even more stacked itinerary for the ravenous new music lover. On Thurs Oct 17th, Sŵn will take over Womanby Street with five stages at Clwb Ifor Bach, Tiny Rebel, The Moon and Fuel. Friday Oct 18th and Saturday Oct 19th, meanwhile, sees the festival expand outwards across Cardiff city centre, with extra stages added at Tramshed, Jacobs Antique Market, Cornerstone and Porter’s (Saturday-only), with more venues to be announced soon. Authoritative music publication DIY have joined the festival as a partner this year and will be taking over a stage and curating its line-up, with more exciting stage partners to be announced in the coming months.
Adam Williams, live manager at Sŵn, offers of this year’s festival: “I’m delighted to finally share the first wave of artists for Sŵn Festival 2024. This year’s event will be slightly different; running from Thursday through Saturday all three days will be fully multi venue, with over 130 artists performing across 11 different stages. We’re also in the process of finalising some exciting guests, stage partners and the return of our industry conference – details of which we’ll be able to share with you soon. Finally, and most importantly, this year’s event will be a key partner within the inaugural Cardiff Music City Festival; a three-week, city wide celebration of music in Cardiff this Autumn.”
This year’s festival is geared towards being more accessible to the wider community than ever before, with the introduction of payment plans, concession tickets and more opportunities to get involved with the festival through the volunteer programme and a brand new apply to play scheme. Sign up to the mailing list to be notified about when applications open.
Tickets for Sŵn are on general sale now with instalment plans available. Head here for ticketing options and more info: https://swnfest.com/tickets/
Sŵn Festival is a multi-venue music festival based entirely in Cardiff’s city centre, which has been running since 2007. Since its inception, the festival has been focused on new music, emerging artists and homegrown acts.
FULL LIST OF ACTS ANNOUNCED TODAY:
Adwaith | Antony Szmierek | Art School Girlfriend | Blue Bendy | Borough Council | Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard | Canty | Clara Mann | Cosmorat | Crinc | Dana Gavanski | Das Koolies | Dushime | Ellie Bleach | Emyr Son | English Teacher | Freak Slug | GANS | Gift | Griff Lynch | Half Happy | Hamish Hawk | Hana Lili | Hannah Diamond | Jane Weaver | Johnny Loves Me | Kitty & Sorry Stacy | Lanterns On The Lake | Malan | Manlikevision | Mared | Maruja | Mary In The Junkyard | Mellt | Mirari | Morn | NewWaveSound.Ent | OneDa | Plantoid | Plastic Estate | Pleasing | Porij | Pys Melyn | Quade | Rachel Lavelle | Razkid | Roddy Woomble | The Secret Jesus Factory | Shtëpi | The Itch | The None | The Wave Pictures | Tom Vek | TWST | University | Wrkhouse | Wu-Lu
