Government funding for Welsh music venues

£718,000 has been awarded to 17 grass roots music venues across Wales, from the Creative Wales Music Capital Fund.

This latest funding takes Creative Wales total support for music venues and businesses to more than £9.6 million since 2020.

The Deputy Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Dawn Bowden said: "The Music Capital Fund has encouraged a step change in the music industry. Improved facilities will add to the range of use of venues, attract better artists and increase audience numbers. All of which will have an immediate economic benefit to music businesses, their supply chains, and the industry as a whole.

"Despite the challenging economic climate, we’ve also seen a number of new venues opening in Wales over the past 12 months. I wish Dan and the team at Porters well in their new venue."

Porters in Cardiff is one of those venues and has recently benefitted from a move to new premises in the city centre.

Dan Porter said: "I cannot overstate how difficult it is for Grassroots venues at the moment- everything is against us in a perfect storm. There is no doubt in my mind that without support like this we would have found it impossible to continue, and artists and audiences would have lost another venue. We thank everyone behind this fund for their vision and in helping us to not only to carry on what we started in 2012, but for giving us a foundation to develop and build a future from."