Team Cardiff Life
September 3, 2025
Activities and Events

A Look Inside Sŵn Festival 2025

Cardiff’s award-winning Sŵn Festival has unveiled a wave of new artists for its 2025 edition, which will run across the Welsh capital from Thursday, October 16 to Saturday, October 18. This announcement also marks the release of day splits and the launch of single day tickets. Following an expanded 2024, Wales’ premier new music festival will once again span three full days of programming and form a key part of the Cardiff Music City Festival.

Founded by Huw Stephens in 2007 and organised by the team at Clwb Ifor Bach since 2018, Sŵn Festival has expanded to stages across a wide range of Cardiff venues. Its commitment however, remains the same: to champion a diverse mix of local, national, international talent and provide a springboard for tomorrow’s artists.


New Acts Announced

The latest additions to the festival’s lineup include:

  • BABYMOROCCO
  • GRUFF RHYSSQUID
  • NAIMA BOCK
  • SAGE TODZ
  • TTSSFU
  • + MANY MORE

They will be joining a fantastic list of previously announced artists, including:

  • BUDDUG
  • GETDOWN SERVICES
  • GEORGIA RUTH
  • GURRIERS
  • MAN/WOMAN/CHAINSAW
  • MOONCHILD SANELLY
  • MYKKI BLANCO
  • SHALE
  • SLATE
  • TALULAH
  • + MORE

Spotlight on Welsh Talent

Amongst a plethora of new Welsh names, the festival will feature bilingual rapper Sage Todz, a key figure in the burgeoning Welsh rap scene. Also performing are Welsh-Ghanaian alt-R&B vocalist Adjua; Welsh-born pop firebrand CATTY, who has seen all eight of their singles hit the A-list at BBC Radio Wales; and collaborative South Wales soul/R&B project Source. Other acts include Green Man Rising winners Wing! and Ynys, the solo project of former Race Horses member Dylan Hughes, who pulls everything from Ethiopian jazz to Elliott Smith into his distinct orbit.

Gruff Rhys also returns to Sŵn this year, having last performed in 2019. From fronting the legendary Super Furry Animals to his substantial solo career, Gruff’s music has always been a one-to-one emulation of modern Welsh culture. His new album, Dim Probs, continues this theme, pulling inspiration from 80s Welsh electronic music to make sense of modern life with his signature wit and charm.


UK Acts and Industry Events

Standout UK acts joining the Welsh lineup this autumn include Squid, returning to Cardiff fresh from their critically acclaimed third album, Cowards, and rising shoegaze star TTSSFU. The festival will also host Babymorroco, Naima Bock (formerly of Goat Girl), West London rapper Lord Apex, and Ugly, who have evolved from a moody guitar project into cult heroes. These new additions will join an already stacked first-round lineup that includes Mykki Blanco, Man/Woman/Chainsaw, Gurriers, Moonchild Sanelly and Deadletter.

This year’s festival will once again be a multi-venue event across all three days, with participating venues including Tramshed, Clwb Ifor Bach, St John’s Church and Jacobs Basement, amongst others.

William Dickins, Live Music Manager at Sŵn, says, “We’re finally ready to reveal the next wave of artists for Sŵn Festival 2025! We’re very proud of this year’s lineup and can’t wait to welcome some outstanding names we’ve been loving for years, as well as some brand new up-and-comers. We’re also very glad to be utilising some new venues in the city and extremely excited to see what opportunities they add to Cardiff’s music scene as a whole.”

Following a successful expanded edition in 2024, the Sŵn Connect industry conference returns in 2025, taking place on October 16 and 17 at Cornerstone and Porters. The conference aims to provide support and guidance for artists and industry practitioners through discussions, presentations, and workshops. The Sŵn Mentor programme will also return, offering delegates a chance to discuss challenges with invited industry professionals.

Sŵn Festival remains as accessible and community-focused as ever, offering a wide array of schemes to make tickets widely available. Payment plans are an option and concession tickets are available for young people, students and Blue Light account holders.

https://swnfest.seetickets.com/. Day
splits are available for viewing here: https://swnfest.com/artists/

FULL LIST OF ACTS ANNOUNCED SO FAR FOR SŴN 2025:
3L3D3P | A Thousand Mad Things | Adjua | Adult DVD | Ain’t | Aki Oke | Angharad |
Angry Blackmen | Ani Glass | Babymorocco | Badlands | Bambees | Basht. | Beauty
Queens | Bramwell | Breichiau Hir | British Birds | Brown Horse | Casual Smart |
CATTY | Clara Mann | Cloth | CLT DRP | Cubzoa | Cyn Cwsg | Deadletter | Dog
Race | Elina Lee | Essence Martins | Gans | The Gentle Good | Georgia Ruth |
Getdown Services | Goodnight Louisa | Grandmas House | Graywave | Green Star |
Gruff Rhys | Gulp | Gurriers | Jessica Winter | John Myrtle | Kathryn Joseph | Keo |
ladylike | Lime Garden | Lord Apex | Lover’s Skit | Lucy Gooch |
Man/Woman/Chainsaw | Manga Saint Hilare | Marsy | Martha Elen | Martha O’Brien |
Martin Luke Brown | Men An Tol | The Meritones | Milkincrisis | MF Tomlinson |
Midding | Moonchild Sanelly | Morn | Mykki Blanco | Naima Bock | Nancy Williams |
Neve Cariad | The New Cut | No Windows | Noah Bouchard | Opal Mag | The
Orchestra (For Now) | Oreglo | Pale Blue Eyes | Papaya Noon | Peiriant | Piss |
Pollyfromthedirt | Prima Queen | Punchbag | Quiet Man | Rabbitfoot | Sage Todz |
Saint Clair | Samana | Scustin | Search Results | Shale | The Sick Man of Europe |
Silver Gore | Slag | Slate | Source | Spithood | Squid | Sywel Nyw | Tai Haf Heb
Drigolyn | Talulah | Thistle | Tlya X An | Tokomololo | Tooth | TTSSFU | The Twins |
Two Blinks, I Love You | Ugly | Van Houten | White Flowers | Whitelands | Why
Horses? | Wing! | Ynys | Zac Lawrence

Cardiff Life Magazine
Subscribe to Cardiff Life

Never miss an Edition.

At Cardiff Life, our mission is to celebrate the vibrant and diverse local business community in Cardiff. We are dedicated to providing a platform that showcases the stories, achievements, and offerings of local businesses, enabling them to thrive and flourish.