Llais Festival returns to Wales Millennium Centre from October 7 – 11th, bringing five days of extraordinary live music, international artists and unique collaborations to Cardiff Bay as part of Cardiff Music City Festival.
The festival’s line-up is led by pioneering multimedia artist Laurie Anderson, who will perform in Wales for the first time on October 8th with Friends and Teachers – a specially created performance developed exclusively for Llais.
Across five days, an international line-up will take to the stage, spanning gospel, folk, experimental music, orchestral performance and contemporary sound. Highlights include Grammy-winning legends Blind Boys of Alabama, Buena Vista All Stars, Orchestra Baobab, Irish singer-songwriter Lisa Hannigan, and acclaimed composer-sitarist Jasdeep Singh Degun with BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales.
The festival also shines a light on artists from Wales and beyond, with performances from Bess Atwell, Tristwch y Fenywod, Tomos Williams, Jordan Playfair, Shovel Dance Collective, Naima Bock, Landless and more.
Among the highlights is Sirens, hosted by Lisa Hannigan on October 10th, bringing together an eclectic group of guest artists including Charlotte Church, Kate Stables, Amanda Bergman, Theodora Byrne Trio and more for an evening of collaboration and unexpected musical encounters.
Alongside the live programme, Wales Millennium Centre’s first ever VR Cinema runs from September 28th – October 11th, featuring four internationally acclaimed immersive virtual reality works. These include Ôl | Haunts, a Welsh coming-of-age story set in North Wales in 2006 and the first Welsh-language VR work to be selected for the immersive competition at this year’s Venice Film Festival, which took place earlier this month.
Llais festival also celebrates the next generation of creative talent, with artists recognised in the Oram Awards 2026 featuring as part of this year’s programme, in partnership with Tŷ Cerdd. This year’s winners will be announced soon.
Also as part of Llais Festival on October 10th, the Wales Millennium Centre’s very own Radio Platfform presents Art of Spoken Word, bringing together 11 young poets for an evening of original poetry, music and art, created in collaboration with the CELF Project at National Museum Cardiff. There will also be a special event to celebrate 10 years of Radio Platfform, which was launched at the very first Llais Festival.
Llais opens on October 7th with the Welsh Music Prize 2026, celebrating the best album released by a Welsh artist over the past year.
Llais Festival runs from October 7 – 11th 2026 at Wales Millennium Centre, as part of Cardiff Music City Festival (October 2nd – 17th).
Tickets are on sale via Wales Millennium Centre: www.wmc.org.uk/en/llais
