Cardiff has many cultural sites varying from the historical Cardiff Castle and out of town Castell Coch to the more modern Wales Millennium Centre and Cardiff Bay. Cardiff was a finalist in the European Capital of Culture 2008. [1]
Cardiff has many cultural sites varying from the historical Cardiff Castle and out of town Castell Coch to the more modern Wales Millennium Centre and Cardiff Bay. Cardiff was a finalist in the European Capital of Culture 2008. [1]
Cardiff has a chequered linguistic history with Welsh, English, Latin, Norse and Anglo-Norman preponderant at different times. Although it was the Romans who established the "castle on the Taff" it was the Vikings who began developing the maritime trade from which Cardiff was to derive its prosperity. The Vikings—who controlled the Bristol Channel—used Cardiff as a raiding base, a port and a trading post. Many street-names in Cardiff are of Viking origin including Dumballs Road and the oldest street in the city, Womanby Street. The conquest of Glamorgan by Robert Fitzhamon brought an influx of Norman-French influence. Welsh was the majority language in Cardiff from the 13th century until the city's explosive growth in the Victorian era. [2] As late as 1850, five of the twelve Anglican churches within the current city boundaries conducted their services exclusively in the Welsh language, while only two worshipped exclusively in English. [2]
A substantial Irish population settled in Cardiff during the 19th century. They were drawn to Cardiff by the work available on major building and engineering projects in the docks and the city itself. The intermingling of the Irish, together with migrants from the West Country, the Midlands and rural Mid Wales is credited with having formed the distinctive flat-vowelled "Cardiff accent" (Roots to Cardiff exhibition, 2007). By 1891, the percentage of Welsh speakers had dropped to 27.9% and only Lisvane, Llanedeyrn and Creigiau remained as majority Welsh-speaking communities. [3] The Welsh language became grouped around a small cluster of chapels and churches, the most notable of which is Tabernacl in the city centre, one of four UK churches chosen to hold official services to commemorate the new millennium. Following the establishment of the city's first Welsh School (Ysgol Gymraeg Bryntaf) in the 1950s, Welsh has slowly regained some ground. [4]
Aided by Welsh-medium education and migration from other parts of Wales, the number of Welsh speakers in Cardiff rose by 14,451 between 1991 and 2001; Welsh is now spoken by 11% of Cardiffians. [5] The highest percentage of Welsh speakers is in Pentyrch, where 15.9% of the population speak the language. [6]
In addition to English and Welsh, the diversity of Cardiff's population (including foreign students) means that a large number of languages are spoken within the city. One study has found that Cardiff has speakers of at least 94 languages, with Somali, Urdu, Bengali and Arabic being the most commonly spoken foreign languages. [7]
The Big Weekend Festival is held annually in the city centre during the summer and plays host to free musical performances (from artists such as Ash, Jimmy Cliff, Cerys Matthews, the Fun Loving Criminals, Soul II Soul and The Magic Numbers), fairground rides and cultural events such as a Children's Festival that takes place in the grounds of Cardiff Castle. The annual Cardiff Festival claims to be the UK's largest free outdoor festival, attracting over 250,000 visitors in 2007. [8] Cardiff also hosted Radio 1's Big Weekend in 2003.
Cardiff hosted the National Eisteddfod in 1883, 1899, 1938, 1960, 1978 and 2008. Cardiff is unique in Wales in having two permanent stone circles used by the Gorsedd of Bards during Eisteddfodau. The original circle stands in Gorsedd Gardens in front of the National Museum while its 1978 replacement is situated in Bute Park.
Since 1983, Cardiff has hosted the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition, a world-renowned event on the opera calendar which is held every two years. The city also hosts smaller events such as The Cardiff Design Festival, which began showcasing the best of Welsh design during the summer of 2005, and has since grown into a diverse range of designers exhibiting their work. Cardiff also hosts the Sŵn festival, a multiple venue music festival organised by BBC Radio 1 DJ Huw Stevens. [9] The Cardiff Chinese New Year Celebrations, organised by Cardiff Chinese Community Services, are held annually at the Red Dragon Centre in Cardiff Bay. [10]
Cardiff is also home to the Iris Prize Film Festival, the world's largest prize for a gay and lesbian-themed short film. The festival is held in October every year.
Cardiff hosts a number of food festivals including the Bite Food Festival.
Cardiff is known for its extensive parkland, with parks and other such green spaces covering around 10% of the city's total area. [11] Cardiff's main park, Bute Park (which was formerly the castle grounds) extends northwards from the top of one of Cardiff's main shopping street (Queen Street); when combined with the adjacent Llandaff Fields and Pontcanna Fields to the northwest, it produces a massive open space skirting the River Taff. Other popular parks include Roath Park in the north, donated to the city by the 3rd Marquess of Bute in 1887 and which includes a very popular boating lake; Victoria Park, Cardiff's first official park; and Thompson's Park, formerly home to an aviary, removed in the 1970s.
In 2006, Cardiff won the prestigious Entente Florale award for large cities due to the beauty of its parks and floral displays. [12]
The Cardiff music scene is established and wide-ranging. It is the home to the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Welsh National Opera. It has produced several leading acts itself and, as a capital city, has acted as a springboard for numerous Welsh bands to go and become famous both nationally and internationally. Acts who hail from Cardiff include Charlotte Church, Shirley Bassey, Catatonia, Super Furry Animals, The Oppressed, Kids in Glass Houses, Los Campesinos, The Hot Puppies, The School, We're No Heroes, Budgie, and Shakin' Stevens. Also, performers such as The Automatic, Jem, Funeral for a Friend, Lostprophets, Bullet for My Valentine, Stereophonics and Manic Street Preachers all have links with the city.
Cardiff has a strong nightlife and is home to many bars, pubs and clubs. Most clubs and bars are situated in the city centre, especially St. Mary's Street, and more recently Cardiff Bay has built up a strong night scene, with many modern bars & restaurants. The Brewery Quarter on St. Mary's Street is a recently developed venue for bars and restaurant with a central courtyard. Cardiff has many events going on at all times of the year and is a very fast developing city, particularly with regards to the Bay area. Nightlife throughout the city is a very popular attraction and up to date events can be found on the online Cardiff guide, Events in Cardiff. Cardiff Does experience large volumes of visitors due to the nature of its attractions, such as the Millennium Stadium, which potentially seats thousands and is often host to many international events.
Cardiff's recent redevelopment, including the opening of St. David's 2 shopping centre, has led to a rise in the number of gay venues in the city. These sit alongside the pre-existing venues available. Similar to other major cities Cardiffs gay venues, are mostly focused around one area of the city. This being the area around Charles St and Churchill Way. Cardiff Gay Bars
Cardiff Bay is the location for many of the city's entertainment venues. The Red Dragon Centre is an entertainment centre featuring a Hollywood Bowl, Grosvenor Casino and an Odeon cinema, with Wales' only IMAX theatre. [13] The centre also houses chain and independent restaurants. The Millennium Plaza centre is a similar venue in the city centre. The Cardiff branch of the global restaurant chain, Hard Rock Cafe, is found on St Mary Street in the city centre.
The main comedy clubs in Cardiff are The Glee Club, in Mermaid Quay, and Jongleurs, in the city centre.
Cardiff is one of the top ten retail destinations in the UK, [14] [15] with three main shopping arcades; St. David's Centre, Queens Arcade and the Capitol Centre. The current expansion of St. David's Centre as part of the St. David's 2 project is allowing a huge piece of land between The Hayes and Charles Street to be demolished and redeveloped, bringing around 200 shops, flats and a John Lewis department store to the city. As well as these modern shopping arcades, the city is also home to many Victorian shopping centres, such as High Street Arcade, Castle Arcade, Wyndham Arcade, Royal Arcade and Morgan Arcade.
Queen Street is home to the main chain stores such as Topshop, Topman, Boots, Gap, Dorothy Perkins, Primark, and Zara to name a few. St. Mary Street is home to Wales' oldest and largest department store, Howells, together with smaller independent stores. Also of note is the Hayes, home to Spillers Records, the world's oldest record shop. [16] [17]
Cardiff has a number of markets, including the vast Victorian indoor Cardiff Central Market and the newly established Riverside Community Market, which specialises in locally produced organic produce. Several out-of-town retail parks exist, such as Newport Road, Culverhouse Cross, Cardiff Gate and Cardiff Bay.
There have been a number of issues relating to city centre shopping, most recently the cost of parking in the city centre and the experimental banning of private cars on St. Mary's Street. Both have been heavily criticised by some sectors of the media, public and retailers. [18] [19]
Cardiff is the capital and largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of 372,089 in 2022 and forms a principal area officially known as the City and County of Cardiff. The city is the eleventh largest in the United Kingdom. Located in the southeast of Wales and in the Cardiff Capital Region, Cardiff is the county town of the historic county of Glamorgan and in 1974–1996 of South Glamorgan. It belongs to the Eurocities network of the largest European cities. A small town until the early 19th century, its prominence as a port for coal when mining began in the region helped its expansion. In 1905, it was ranked as a city and in 1955 proclaimed capital of Wales. Cardiff Built-up Area covers a larger area outside the county boundary, including the towns of Dinas Powys and Penarth.
Cardiff Arms Park, also known as The Arms Park, is situated in the centre of Cardiff, Wales. It is primarily a rugby union stadium, but it also has a bowling green. The Arms Park was host to the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1958, and hosted four games in the 1991 Rugby World Cup, including the third-place play-off. The Arms Park also hosted the inaugural Heineken Cup Final of 1995–96 and the following year in 1996–97.
Swansea is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea.
Cardiff Bay is an area and freshwater lake in Cardiff, Wales. The site of a former tidal bay and estuary, it is the river mouth of the River Taff and Ely. The body of water was converted into a 500-acre (2.0 km2) lake as part of a pre-devolution UK Government regeneration project, involving the damming of the rivers by the Cardiff Bay Barrage in 1999. The barrage impounds the rivers from the Severn Estuary, providing flood defence and the creation of a permanent non-tidal high water lake with limited access to the sea, serving as a core feature of the redevelopment of the area in the 1990s.
Cardiff city centre is the city centre and central business district of Cardiff, Wales. The area is tightly bound by the River Taff to the west, the Civic Centre to the north and railway lines and two railway stations – Central and Queen Street – to the south and east respectively. Cardiff became a city in 1905.
Grangetown is a district and community in the south of Cardiff, capital of Wales. It is one of the largest districts in the south of the city and is bordered by Riverside, Canton and Butetown. The River Taff winds its way through the area. Adjacent to the city's Cardiff Bay area, Grangetown is experiencing a period of gentrification and improvements in its infrastructure. Its population as of 2011 was 19,385 in 8,261 households. One of the "five towns of Cardiff", the others are Butetown, Crockherbtown, Newtown and Temperance Town.
The music of Cardiff has been dominated mainly by rock music since the early 1990s with later trends developing towards more extreme styles of the genre such as heavy metal and metalcore music. It, along with the nearby music scene in Newport, has brought a number of musicians to perform or begin their careers in South Wales.
The Cardiff Centenary Walk is a tourist walkway through Cardiff city centre in Wales. Established as part of Cardiff's centennial celebrations to mark 100 years of city status in 2005, it has 41 points of interest, either Cardiff landmarks or significant historic sites. The route is marked by waymarkers on the pavement, which also direct pedestrians to the next waymarker. The whole walk is 3.6 kilometres (2.2 mi) long running around Cardiff in a clockwise direction, starting and finishing at the Cardiff Visitor Centre at the Old Library.
The timeline of Cardiff history shows the significant events in the history of Cardiff which transformed it from a small Roman fort into the modern capital city of Wales.
The Hayes is a commercial area in the southern city centre of the Welsh capital, Cardiff. Centred on the road of that name leading south towards the east end of the city centre, the area is mostly pedestrianised and is the location of the Hayes Island Snack Bar.
Sport in Cardiff is dictated by, amongst other things, its position as the capital city of Wales, meaning that national home sporting fixtures are nearly always played in the city. All of Wales' multi-sports agencies and many of the country's sports governing bodies have their headquarters in Cardiff and the city's many top-quality venues have attracted world-famous sport events, sometimes unrelated to Cardiff or to Wales.
As the capital city of Wales, Cardiff is the main engine of growth in the Welsh economy; the city has been developing as a significant service centre and economic driver for the wider south east Wales economy. The city and the adjoining Vale of Glamorgan contribute a disproportionately high share of economic output in Wales. The Cardiff travel to work area has grown significantly since 1991; the 2001-based version includes much of the central South Wales Valleys in addition to the Vale of Glamorgan.
St Mary Street and High Street are major commercial streets in the Castle Quarter of Cardiff city centre, Wales, which form a major thoroughfare running south from the gatehouse of Cardiff Castle. High Street begins at the junction of Castle Street on the A4161 and ends at the junction of Church Street and Quay Street, from where St Mary Street begins until the roundabout at Callaghan Square on the A4160.
Architecture in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales, dates from Norman times to the present day. Its urban fabric is largely Victorian and later, reflecting Cardiff's rise to prosperity as a major coal port in the 19th century. No single building style is associated with Cardiff, but the city centre retains several 19th and early 20th century shopping arcades.
Castle Quarter is an independent retail destination area in the north of the city centre of Cardiff, Wales. Castle is also a community (parish) of Cardiff.
Womanby Street is one of the oldest streets in Cardiff, the capital of Wales. Tracing its name back to origins within the Norse language, its original purpose was to link Cardiff Castle to its quay. In this way it became a trade hub and settling point for those incomers who made the city their home. Throughout its history the street has had several pubs, and today has several bars and clubs.
The Old Library is a Grade II* listed building in Cardiff, Wales. It is located in the centre of the city at the northern end of The Hayes. Originally the Cardiff Free Library, it was used as the city's Central Library until it was replaced in 1988. It has been used for other purposes since that time and is currently the home of the Cardiff Story museum and the Welsh College of Music and Drama.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)The owners of Spillers Records, recognised by Guinness World Records as the oldest such emporium on Earth, say that it will close unless a buyer is found.
