Music Venue Trust has announced its first event in Wales, the Welsh Venues Meeting.

Venues from around the UK are invited to gather on 17 May at Cardiff’s Clwb Ifor Bach to discuss the highs and lows of the Welsh venues circuit.

The one-day event will be an opportunity for networking, to hear from national cultural and music industry organisations and to contribute to a discussion of the challenges faced on a local and national basis. Created in partnership with UK Music and with support from Arts Council of Wales, delegate passes will be free to venue representatives. Guests from across the live sector and MVT partner organisations including The Musicians’ Union, UK Music and Attitude is Everything will take part in the day, offering information, tips and experiences to drive the discussion.

“As a UK-wide organisation it’s important for us to emphasise that we represent grassroots music venues from across Britain and in order to do this we need to go out and talk to the people that run those venues,” said Beverley Whitrick, strategic director, Music Venue Trust. “We are aware that we have a limited number of Music Venues Alliance members in Wales to date but are keen to build our networks and listen to the issues for venues there. Some of the challenges will be the same as in England or Scotland but others may be specific to Wales so this is something we need to know.”

Jo Dipple, CEO, UK Music commented: “We are looking forward to visiting Cardiff to discuss the many challenges facing small venues in Wales. Last year UK Music published the Wish You Were Here, a report that showed music tourism generated £95million towards the Welsh economy in 2014, while attracting over 211,000 music fans to live music events. Music venues are vital part of the ecosystem that incubates new local talent and must be encouraged.

“Our live music census in nearby Bristol last October revealed that half of the venues surveyed said they were negatively affected by developmental, noise or planning issues. Getting conditions right to support all Welsh music venues and encourage them to flourish is a priority for UK Music. In June we will publish a new version of Wish You Were for 2016, which will look in greater depth at Cardiff and the Welsh live music scene and the enormous contribution it makes to tourism in Wales.”