BLACKWEIR LIVE Q&A

Live music is central to our vision for Cardiff.

Local promoters Depot Live, working in partnership with Cuffe & Taylor, have approached the Council about using Blackweir Fields to hold a series of outdoor live music events featuring global artists, next summer.

The plans, which are subject to licence, will help cement Cardiff’s status as a must-play destination for major artists, delivering significant economic benefits for the city, and providing the Council with vital income to invest in our parks and help us continue to promote the city as a music destination.

No. The plan is for a short series of temporary open-air events featuring world-class artists to be held at Blackweir Fields. These events are currently proposed for up to four dates next summer.

The capacity could be up to 35,000 people, subject to licence.

Yes. The majority of the 130 acres that make up Bute Park will remain accessible to the public throughout this period.

However, public access to Blackweir Fields will be restricted during the concerts and for a limited period either side to allow for set up and break down.

Full details of any changes to access will be advertised in advance.

Discussions with local cricket leagues to ensure any disruption to fixtures is minimised are ongoing.

Holding concerts on sports pitches is not unusual and special care is being taken to protect the cricket squares from damage. The technology used at Blackweir will be the same as used when high profile cricket grounds such as Old Trafford host events.

The event promoters take their responsibility for working in the park’s unique and valuable setting very seriously.

Careful consideration will be given to any potential environmental impact these concerts could have and measures will be put in place, where required, to ensure that any impact on flora and fauna is minimised.  

Independent arboricultural advice will also be sought, to ensure the park’s trees are protected.

Bute Park is a city centre park which hosts regular events, many of which feature live music. Neighbouring residents and businesses will be considered, and noise levels will be monitored at all times. Any specific licencing conditions required will be complied with.

Blackweir Fields is in a city centre location, easily accessible on foot and with good public transport links and audiences will be encouraged to use these.

In terms of vehicle traffic, city centre event management and parking arrangements will be put in place for these concerts.

The promoters will make a comprehensive sustainability policy available on the Depot Live website in due course.

Bute Park is one of Cardiff’s best-loved parks and holds a prestigious Green Flag Award, the highest honour there is for parks in the UK, on account of its quality. Maintaining those high standards in the face of ongoing pressures on council budgets is challenging.

Alongside other popular and well-established events which already take place in Bute Park, these concerts on Blackweir Fields next summer will provide vital income to invest in our parks and help us continue to promote the city as a music destination.

As well as helping make the city a vibrant, exciting place to live, work and visit, figures prior to the first series of Castle concerts showed live music contributed in the region of £100 million to Cardiff’s economy every year.

These new concerts will attract global artists to play in Cardiff and deliver further significant economic benefits to the city.

Outdoor, greenfield concerts are popular with the public and last year’s Castle concerts brought over 80,000 visitors to Cardiff from outside Wales. Coupled with an extensive local supply chain and 300 additional part-time jobs during the period, they contributed £26.3 million to the city’s economy.

The Blackweir Live concerts are expected to create a further 300 local jobs during the concert period.

The concerts form part of our ongoing work, alongside Cardiff Music Board, to help create a vibrant, all-year round music city where every level of the music sector – from emerging artists and grassroots venues upwards – thrives.

Examples of this wider work include:

• Delivery of the recent multi-venue Cardiff Music City Festival – Cardiff’s biggest ever music festival.

• Helping to secure the future of Clŵb Ifor Bach.

• Helping find new homes for venues like Porters and Sustainable Studios.

• Introducing new capital funding grants – available to all grassroots venues in Cardiff.

• The introduction of a musician ‘loading zone’ in Womanby Street.

• The appointment of Cardiff’s first ever Music Officer – dedicated to working with the music industry.

• Delivery of a new ‘Little Gigs’ school talent development scheme.

Cardiff-based promoters Depot Live are working alongside international promoters Cuffe & Taylor, who work with some of the biggest names in the global music industry – this partnership will build on the success of last summer’s series of Castle Concerts as we look to cement Cardiff’s status as a must-play destination for major artists ahead of the delivery of the new arena in Cardiff Bay.

The Blackweir Live concerts will also showcase the best homegrown talent in support slots, providing them with valuable exposure to new audiences.