Compass Point Festival is a yearly music festival

Festival

A festival or gala is an event, usually and ordinarily staged by a local community, which centers on and celebrates some unique aspect of that community and the Festival....

 founded in 2000 by Simon Dancey, former Director of Community Music Wales. It takes place in the grounds of Cardiff Castle

Cardiff Castle

Cardiff Castle is a medieval castle and Victorian architecture Gothic revival mansion, transformed from a Norman keep erected over a Roman fort in the Castle Quarter of Cardiff, the capital of Wales. The Castle is a Grade I Listed Building.-The Roman fort:...

 in Cardiff

Cardiff

Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...

, Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

. It was initially staged as a free event responding to the demand from up and coming Welsh artists, mainly from the rock, indie and hip-hop genres.

It is divided into two days, and the last day is traditionally the day for rock bands

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

. Musicians, grafittii artists and breakdancers have appeared from around the world, from Cuba to Finland. In the past the festival has played host to the likes Biffy Clyro

Biffy Clyro

Biffy Clyro are a Scottish rock band from Kilmarnock, comprising Simon Neil , James Johnston and Ben Johnston...

 and Funeral for a Friend

Funeral for a Friend

Funeral for a Friend are a Welsh post-hardcore band, from Bridgend. Formed 2001, they have released five studio albums, seven EPs, sixteen singles, one DVD, and one compilation album.-Formation and Early Years:...

. Recently, there has been talk of the Compass Point curse

Curse

A curse is any expressed wish that some form of adversity or misfortune will befall or attach to some other entity—one or more persons, a place, or an object...

 - e.g., a lot of bands that have played main stage at Compass Point have split up shortly afterwards (the "curse" has notably hit McLusky

Mclusky

Mclusky , originally known as Best, were a three-piece post-hardcore group formed in Cardiff, Wales. The group consisted of Englishman Andy "Falco" Falkous from Newcastle Upon Tyne, Jonathan Chapple and Jack Egglestone , who replaced previous drummer Matthew Harding in late...

, Jarcrew

Jarcrew

Jarcrew was a five-piece progressive rock band from Ammanford, Wales. They were a relatively well known underground band for approximately five years between 2000 and their early 2005 split...

 and Million Dead

Million Dead

Million Dead were a hardcore punk band from London, UK, active between 2001 and 2005.-History:The band was founded in 2000 by Cameron Dean and Julia Ruzicka, after both came to London from Australia. They were joined by Ben Dawson, who had worked with Dean in a record shop in the city...

- all main stage performers - in the past years, alongside several lesser-known local acts).

The festival has grown from an original small scale event with only 100 people to Wales' largest non-commercial urban music and culture festival. It is also one of the main UK festivals for grafittii artists and breakdancers and sticks strongly to a not-for profit community ethos.

After resting for a short period the festival returns in Summer 2012