Welsh Language Music Day


Welsh Language Music Day is a music festival founded by BBC Radio 1 DJ Huw Stephens. Events take place on the day at its base in Cardiff, as well as previously in London, Swansea, and even as far as Brooklyn and Budapest.

Background

The festival takes place annually in Stephens' hometown of Cardiff, Wales, as well as hosting events in other UK cities including London, Caernarfon, and Swansea. The first Welsh Language Music Day took place in February 2013. Artists who have been highlighted include Mellt, Gwenno Saunders, The Gentle Good, Chroma, Adwaith, Candelas, Meic Stevens, Los Blancos, and Alffa.
Organisations across Wales are involved in the yearly event, including Sŵn, BBC Horizons, Forté Project, Clwb Ifor Bach and Big Fish Little Fish.

Venues

Events have been held across the UK, including venues in Cardiff as well as:
Independent events have also been organised by Menter Iaith in the following:
During each years' events, organisers research the streaming popularity of Welsh language music acts globally.
The 2018 event found the most popular Welsh artists on Spotify were:
  1. The Joy Formidable
  2. Super Furry Animals
  3. Cate Le Bon
  4. Catatonia
  5. Iwan Rheon
  6. Gwenno Saunders
  7. Yws Gwynedd
  8. Bryn Fon
  9. Al Lewis
  10. Sŵnami
The survey also found the following artists were most popular on Shazam:
  1. Catatonia
  2. Super Furry Animals
  3. Gwenno Saunders
  4. Casi
  5. Yws Gwynedd
  6. Bryn Fon
  7. Meic Stevens
  8. Dafydd Iwan
  9. Omaloma
  10. Elin Fflur