Cardiff is having an unforgettable year for live music, and we’re not done yet.
From kicking off the Oasis reunion at the Principality Stadium to Stevie Wonder headlining at the new Blackweir site, this summer has placed Cardiff shoulder to shoulder with Europe’s biggest cultural capitals. There’s an undeniable buzz in the city – and if you work in hospitality, run a retail unit, or manage a city centre venue, you’ll have felt the impact too.
At FOR Cardiff – as the Business Improvement District (BID) for the Welsh capital – we represent over 800 city centre businesses – and from our members, the message is clear: when the city hosts major events, everyone wins. Hotels fill up, restaurant bookings soar, and footfall on the high street increases markedly. These events are more than just entertainment, they’re catalysts for economic activity and cultural pride.
This impact isn’t just anecdotal, it’s measurable. According to July 2025 data from Beauclair, monthly sales in Cardiff city centre hit £44.1 million, up 15.6% on the previous year. This was driven by a 17.5% increase in customer numbers, with entertainment sales seeing an extraordinary 231% year-on-year surge. Hospitality benefited enormously, with Food & Drink sales rising by over 20% to reach £18 million for the month.
We saw this even more acutely during the Oasis gigs at the Principality Stadium, when many venues reported their busiest trading weekend of the year. Some operators even described sales rising to three or four times their usual levels.
Crucially, these aren’t just local audiences spending money either. Beauclair’s customer catchment analysis shows that only 32.8% of sales in July 2025 came from the Cardiff region. That means well over two-thirds of city centre spending came from visitors, including the Rest of GB (19.8%), Rest of Wales (11.7%), and the M4 Corridor (2.4%) – all of which saw an increase in their share of spend compared to the same time last year.
But the real question is: how do we keep the momentum going?
The opening of Blackweir Fields as a new large-scale concert site has unlocked huge potential, offering a central, greenfield venue. It joins Cardiff Castle, the Principality Stadium, and the Utilita Arena in creating a full ecosystem of live performance spaces in the city.
But firstly, infrastructure must keep pace. The city needs consistent investment in public transport and night-time travel to ensure gig-goers can move around safely and easily – particularly as we attract more visitors from outside the region.
Second, we need to continue investing in public spaces, amenities, and the visitor experience so that Cardiff not only hosts great gigs but becomes a place people want to return to again and again.
Looking ahead, the arrival of the new arena in Cardiff Bay presents an exciting opportunity to reimagine the city’s music offering for the next generation. But that doesn’t mean the smaller city centre venues no longer matter. Mid-sized venues remain essential to the industry’s ecosystem, providing space for comedy, sport, and artists on the rise. They complement, rather than compete with, the larger stages.
Crucially, keeping the momentum alive isn’t just about bookings, it’s about legacy. That means working together as a city to train talent, support local creatives, and make sure that as Cardiff grows its reputation as a music city, it also grows its benefits to the people who live and work here every day.
We’ve proven this summer that Cardiff can deliver at the highest level. The challenge now is to build on that success to ensure the music never stops.