Focus Wales

FOCUS Wales International Showcase Festival
Genre	Multi-genre showcase festival
Frequency	annual
Venue	multi-venue
Location(s)	Wrexham, Wrexham County Borough
Country	Wales
Years active	12
Founded	2011
Founders	Andy Jones Neal Thompson
Previous event	9–11 May 2024; 7 months ago (2024-05-11)
Next event	TBA
Attendance	15,000+
Major events	Music performances, film screenings, conferences, and industry panels.
Website	focuswales.com

Focus Wales (stylised as FOCUS Wales) is an international multi-venue showcase music and arts festival held annually in Wrexham, Wales.^[1][2] It is Wales' biggest music industry event and was first held in 2011. The event showcases emerging Welsh musical talent, as well as a selection of international emerging acts, film screenings, and conference events.

The most recent event was held from 9–11 May 2024, with the 2025 date to be confirmed.^[3]

Description

The festival is held every year, with over 250 performances from various international acts. The event's organisers also attend and host conferences and showcases internationally, including far-away places such as Canada, South Korea and Taiwan to promote the event and its artists.^[4][5]

The event is Wales' biggest music industry event, and alongside performances, the event would host industry advice sessions, panels and keynote talks, with around 400 music industry professionals expected to have attended the 2022 event.^[6][7] HWB Cymraeg which provides Welsh language events at the festival was also present in 2022.^[8]

The Centre for the Creative Industries is a venue for the event.

Interior of St Giles' Church where some performances are held.

In 2022, the venues for the event's 300 performances,^[9][10] were mainly concentrated in Wrexham city centre, including performances at Tŷ Pawb, St Giles' Church, Llwyn Isaf, the Centre for the Creative Industries at Wrexham Glyndŵr University, and the Hafod Theatre at Coleg Cambria's Yale Campus.^{[7][11][12][13]} Organisers of the event claimed in 2019 that it had contributed £500,000 to Wrexham's economy.^[14] The 2024 event also included various pubs, such as the Wynnstay Arms, Royal Oak, Magic Dragon Brewery Tap (in former Elephant and Castle) and Saith Seren, as well as restaurants and community centres.^[3]

Past performers at the event include: 9Bach, Snapped Ankles, Boy Azooga, Cate Le Bon, Tim Burgess, BC Camplight, Damo Suzuki (CAN), The Trials of Cato, Euros Childs, Charlotte Church, Gaz Coombes, Neck Deep, Stella Donnelly, The Lovely Eggs, Catrin Finch, The Joy Formidable, A Guy Called Gerald, Gwenno, Richard Hawley, This Is The Kit, Michael Rother (NEU! / Harmonia / Kraftwerk), Don Letts, The Membranes, Bo Ningen, The Magic Numbers, Kelly Lee Owens, Sea Power, Gruff Rhys, Kate Rusby, Georgia Ruth, Bill Ryder-Jones, Self Esteem, Stealing Sheep, Skindred, Bob Vylan, and Jane Weaver.^[15][2]

The 2023 and 2024 events were expected to welcome over 20,000^[3][5] people to Wrexham, with over 250 artists^[16] at various venues throughout the city centre.^[17] Tŷ Pawb served as a main venue, and as the ticketing box office.^[4][18][19] The event since 2019 has been held across 20 stages.^[20] For the 2023 event, the Focus Wales Film Festival took place in Coleg Cambria's Theatr Iâl/Hafod Theatre on 5–6 May 2023, supported by Fflim Cymru and 73 Degree Films.^[21][22][23]

History

It was launched in 2011 to create a spotlight event for the Welsh music industry.^[18][24]

For events from 2017 to 2019, the Welsh Government supported the event with funding. The 2017 event attracted 7,000 visitors, and aside Welsh and British acts also had acts from places such as Canada, Catalonia (Spain), France, Norway, Poland and South Korea.^[25]

The 2020 event was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Wales.^[12][26]

In September 2021, the event was awarded Wrexham Civic recognition by Wrexham County Borough Council.^[27]

For the 2022 event, acts included Public Service Broadcasting, Echo & the Bunnymen, Gwenno, Self Esteem and around 250 other acts.^[6][28] At the UK Festival Awards, the festival was awarded the "Best Music Festival for Emerging Talent".^[29]

In March 2022, Focus Wales organised a showcase event at the Swan Dive, in Austin, Texas, to promote six artists from Wales.^[30]

In May 2022, the festival backed Wrexham County Borough's UK City of Culture 2025 bid,^[31] although it lost to Bradford.

In March 2023, the festival assisted in launching the Welsh Music Abroad initiative to promote Welsh music internationally.^[32][33]

References

1. "Focus Wales 2023 at Wrexham | VisitWales". www.visitwales.com. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
2. "FOCUS Wales 2022 » ABOUT". Retrieved 26 August 2022.
3. "All you need to know about FOCUS Wales 2024 ahead of Wrexham festival". The Leader. 7 May 2024. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
4. "Focus Wales – Trac Cymru". Retrieved 26 August 2022.
5. "Focus Wales: Emerging Welsh talent among latest festival acts". BBC News. 3 March 2023. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
6. "75 new acts announced as part of huge FOCUS Wales 2022 line up". Deeside.com. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
7. "Wales' biggest music industry event kicks off today". The National Wales. Archived from the original on 26 August 2022. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
8. Stevens, Gill (4 May 2022). "HWB Cymraeg's back again for FOCUS Wales! - news.wrexham.gov.uk". Retrieved 26 August 2022.
9. "Town turns its focus on music from Wales and around the world". The National Wales. Archived from the original on 26 August 2022. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
10. "Focus Wales: Festival welcomes music industry to Wales". BBC News. 8 October 2021. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
11. "FOCUS Wales 2022 » VENUES". Retrieved 26 August 2022.
12. "Thousands to descend on town as FOCUS Wales festival returns to Wrexham". The Leader. 5 May 2022. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
13. "In Pictures: Day one of FOCUS Wales 2022". The National Wales. Archived from the original on 26 August 2022. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
14. "Focus Wales festival fears for small venues in Wales". BBC News. 18 May 2019. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
15. "Focus Wales - Wrexham Events Guide". 2 February 2022. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
16. "FOCUS Wales 2023 » MUSIC". Retrieved 2 May 2023.
17. "Focus Wales 2023 at Wrexham | VisitWales". www.visitwales.com. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
18. "FOCUS Wales International Showcase Festival – Thursday 5th May to Saturday 7th 2022". www.traveline.cymru. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
19. "FOCUS Wales 2023 » TICKETS". Retrieved 2 May 2023.
20. Wrexham, This Is (14 May 2019). "FOCUS Wales 2019 rolls into town..." thisiswrexham. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
21. Johnson, Laura. "Schedule Announced For Focus Wales 2023 - Stereoboard". Stereoboard.com. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
22. "FOCUS Wales Film Festival 2023 | Ffilm Cymru". ffilmcymruwales.com. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
23. "FOCUS Wales 2023 » FILM". Retrieved 2 May 2023.
24. Barrett, Christopher (5 April 2023). "Focus Wales founder Neal Thompson on this year's signature event". Access All Areas. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
25. "Focus on Welsh talent during FOCUS Wales 2017". GOV.WALES. 31 March 2017. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
26. "Smiles all round as popular festival returns to celebrate decade of music". The Leader. 8 October 2021. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
27. "Focus Wales receives Wrexham civic recognition – "We are so proud to have it in Wrexham"". Wrexham.com. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
28. "50 new acts just announced for FOCUS Wales 2022 line up". Wrexham.com. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
29. "Everything you need to know about the Focus Wales 2023 festival in Wrexham next week". The Leader. 26 April 2023. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
30. "Focus Wales share highlights from their showcase at SXSW 2022 | Arts Council of Wales". wai.org.uk. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
31. "City of Culture 2025: Focus Wales festival backs Wrexham bid". BBC News. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
32. "FOCUS Wales, Trac Cymru, and Tŷ Cerdd announce initiative pushing Welsh music abroad". The Leader. 11 March 2023. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
33. "Focus Wales teams up with Trac Cymru and Tŷ Cerdd on Welsh Music Abroad initiative | Complete Music Update". completemusicupdate.com. Retrieved 2 May 2023.