Sŵn Festival has unveiled the second wave of artists for its 2025 edition. The multi-venue festival is taking place across the Welsh capital from Thursday October 16th to Saturday October 18th. Squid, TTSSFU, Babymorocco, Gruff Rhys, Naima Bock, Sage Todz, Lord Apex, Ugly and more, joining a packed line-up already including Mykki Blanco, Moonchild Sanelly, Man/Woman/Chainsaw, Jessica Winter, Getdown Services, Keo, Gurriers, Adult DVD, Dog Race, Deadletter and many more. The announcement is accompanied by the news of day splits now being available and single day tickets now on-sale.
As with 2024’s edition of Wales’ premiere new music festival, Sŵn 2025 once again runs over three full days of programming and is proudly part of Cardiff Music City Festival.
Heading up today’s announcement are Squid, will be heading to Cardiff this autumn. Fresh from releasing their critically acclaimed third album, Cowards, earlier this year via the seminal Warp Records, the Brighton-formed quintet have spent the best part of a decade at the vanguard of guitar music. Don’t miss the chance to see these titans at the peak of their powers this October.
Announced to Sŵn fans earlier this summer, fresh Partisan Records-signee TTSSFU – the performing alias of Tasmin Stephens – has quickly become a rising star in shoegaze, creating music that soars with the ambition of The Cure and The Strokes while maintaining a grounded DIY production and artistic approach. With an unfiltered social media presence and a humorous, outgoing personality, she’s one to mark in your clashfinder post-haste.
Babymorroco shines as a performer with a choreographed stage presence that heightens his nostalgia infused pop-hits, making himself one of the most memorable acts on our lineup. Lots can be said about Babymorroco, but no words could speak louder then seeing him live in the flesh, a gobsmackingly fun time.
From a hotly-tipped newcomer to one of the greats of modern Welsh music: the inimitable Gruff Rhys makes a return to Sŵn this year. From fronting the legendary Super Furry Animals to his substantial solo career, Gruff’s music has always remained a one-to-one emulation of modern Welsh culture. This theme is continued through his new album Dim Probs. Having last played Sŵn in 2019, closing out the Tramshed, his set this year ought to be busy and will certainly be charming.
Formerly the bassist in the much-loved Goat Girl, Naima Bock has been one to watch for a minute now following two ace solo LPs released on the legendary Sub Pop Records.
Making the trip to Cardiff from West London is the singular Lord Apex. Unorthodox yet accessible, he plays on the underground rap of Earl Sweatshirt and Freddie Gibbs fusing it with a love of anime and vintage clothing and the backing of his West-London perspective to create soulful music that has since gained him a coveted collaboration with Madlib.
Birthed as a moody guitar project, Ugly take the trend of Brixton post-rock and adds flourishes of choir-like harmonies and driving acoustic guitar lines, culminating in something akin to a folk-tale. One of the finest live acts around, do yourself a favour and catch their transformative sound at Sŵn 2025.
Amongst a big contingent of new local names unveiled today are bilingual Welsh rapper Sage Todz, a vital figure in the ever-burgeoning Welsh rap scene; Welsh-Ghanaian alt-RnB vocalist and guitarist Adjua; Welsh-born pop firebrand CATTY who’s seen all eight singles they’ve released hit the A-list at BBC Radio Wales; Green Man Rising winners and fresh Memorials of Distinction signees Wing!; collaborative South Wales soul/RnB project Source; and Ynys, the solo project of former Race Horses member Dylan Hughes.
They join names already announced including Mykki Blanco, art-punk five-piece Man/Woman/Chainsaw, beloved Dunlin quintet Gurriers, Bristol indie-dance duo Getdown Services, South African rap-pop trailblazer Moonchild Sanelly, the roof-raising experimental pop of Jessica Winter, technically rich and thought-provoking post-punk courtesy of Deadletter, the spectral goth-rock of London’s Dog Race, wry dance-punk crew Adult DVD, rapidly ascending alt-emo band Keo, and the witty Baroque inspired post-rock of Guildhall students’ The Orchestra (For Now).
This year’s festival is once again multi-venue across all three days and comes absolutely bursting at the seams. Participating venues this year include: Tramshed, Clwb Ifor Bach, St John’s Church, Jacobs Basement, Fuel, The Canopi, Tiny Rebel, Boho Club and Porters.
William Dickins, Live Music Manager at Sŵn, says of the latest batch of additions: “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 that we know will be instant favourites for people. We’re also very glad to be utilising some new venues to the city, and extremely excited to see what opportunities they add to Cardiff’s music scene as a whole. But as if that wasn’t enough, we’re still not finished yet! We still have more to offer, so keep tuned in for even more juicy announcements.”
Following a successful expanded edition in 2024, the Sŵn Connect industry conference returns in 2025, taking place across October 16th and 17th at Cornerstone and Porters. The conference aims to provide support and guidance for artists and industry practitioners looking to take the next step in their career – hosting discussions, presentations and talks, as well as breakout rooms and workshops with industry partners. The Sŵn Mentor programme will also return, a chance for delegates and conference attendees to discuss the issues and challenges they face with invited industry professionals. There will also be industry mixers available to all those with delegate or Connect tickets. This year, the mixers will feature the Sŵn Spotlight series, a showcase for new Welsh artists that will make an impact over the next 12 months. For more information on delegate and Sŵn Connect tickets, head here.
Sŵn Festival remains as accessible and community-focused as ever – once again offering a wide array of schemes to make tickets as widely available as possible and to offer in-roads into the festival. Payment plans for tickets are available as well as concession tickets for young people, students and Blue Light account holders, while volunteer programmes and the apply to play scheme will also return. Sign up to the mailing list for more information; volunteer schemes are now open for application here: https://swnfest.com/get-involved/
Weekend tickets for Sŵn are on general sale now with instalment plans available, and day tickets are now available including at a concession rate. Head here for ticketing options and more info: 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
