FOCUS Wales festival gets underway in Wrexham TODAY - and promises to be bigger and better than ever.
It is Wales’ biggest music industry event, with three days of panels, keynote talks, and industry advice.
The festival will see over 400 music industry professionals descend upon Wrexham from around the world.
The multi-venue showcase festival places the music industry spotlight firmly on the emerging talent that the UK has to offer.
FOCUS Wales 2022 will mark the festival's 11th edition, and will welcome over 15,000 people to the town, building upon 2021′s record attendance across a jam-packed weekend of events.
FOCUS Wales will showcase 250+ artists, filling out a variety of spaces and music venues, using 20 stages, and hosting a full schedule of interactive industry sessions, arts events, and film screenings, throughout the festival.
Echo & The Bunnymen, one of the most influential bands in modern UK music, will headline the main stage on Saturday, May 7.
Other headline acts include Public Service Broadcasting, Self Esteem, Adwaith, Peaness, Goat Girl, and Mace The Great.
The line-up is as diverse as ever, showcasing acts from France, India, Spain, the US. Canada, Japan, India, Mexico, Sweden, and the Netherlands, as well as boasting some of the best Wales has to offer.
Focus Wales also delivers much more than just the musical line-up, with interactive industry sessions, stand-up comedy, arts events, film screenings and live performances also taking place across the weekend.
The last festival of its kind was held in October 2021 and marked FOCUS Wales' 10th anniversary. The 10th edition of the festival had to be postponed from 2020 due to the pandemic.
This year, there are many artists to look out for.
Following the release of their fourth album Bright Magic late in 2021, Public Service Broadcasting will be performing their most ambitious live set to date, headlining Llwyn Isaf, the new outdoor big top on Thursday, May 5.
Having reached the top spot in almost every Album of The Year list in 2021, winning BBC Introducing Artist of The Year, and now a 2022 Brit Awards nominee, Self Esteem make their debut in Wrexham on Friday, May 6.
Meanwhile, one of the most influential bands in modern UK music, Echo & The Bunnymen will headline the same stage on Saturday, May 7.
Other headliners announced include post-punk band Goat Girl, touring off the back of their critically acclaimed 2021 album On All Fours, as well as award-winning Welsh artist Gwenno, and the hotly-tipped alt-rock group Crawlers.
Also joining the line-up is the exciting 16 piece collective, Balimaya Project, fusing West-African folkloric music and jazz in a unique, contemporary way.
Download the festival's schedule at https://www.stereoboard.com/uploads/focuswales-schedule-2022.pdf
FOCUS Wales tickets are available to buy at https://www.focuswales.com/tickets/
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here