Music festival audience at night, CC0 via Openverse

One electric evening in Cardiff

Creative talks.
Good people.
Great food.

Depot, CardiffFriday · 27 April18:30–23:00

The premise

Hey you with the pretty face

Emberline is a night for uncommon ideas and generous company. We invite one remarkable speaker, pair them with a live set, invite brilliant independent cooks, and give the room time to talk. No badges full of job titles. No frantic panel schedule. Just one memorable thread running through the evening.

The event raises funds for local youth arts programmes and pays every contributor fairly.

Creative talksGood peopleGreat food

Live performance on a festival stage, george charry on Pexels

Creative talks

One voice, one deep story, no recycled keynote. Our guest gets the time and production support to make an idea land.

Crowded concert venue audience, CC0 via Openverse

Good people

A thoughtful crowd from design, food, music, education, and the wider city—mixed deliberately, welcomed warmly.

Street-food plate by Jakub Kapusnak, CC0 via Openverse

Great food

A menu from independent kitchens with strong opinions: seasonal, generous, and designed to be shared standing up.

Midnight
Commons

This year's themeWhat changes when public space stays awake? Our guests explore night buses, late kitchens, music rooms, and the small acts of care that make a city feel open after dark.

Speaker

Woman speaking on stage, Dmitrii Zaitsev on Pexels

Urban researcher and radio maker

Mara Bell

Mara documents the people who keep cities moving outside conventional hours. Her field recordings and oral histories have appeared on independent radio across Europe.

At Emberline she will premiere The Last Bus Home, a new sound essay about night workers, public transport, and belonging.

Music

Live set · Bracken

Street food

Midnight kitchen

Big flavours, small menu

Ember & Salt are bringing charred flatbreads, bright pickles, and a slow-cooked mushroom broth. Brother Thai follows with a crisp, herb-loaded supper plate.

Cook preparing mussels over heat, CC0 via Openverse

Colourful street-food plate by Jakub Kapusnak, CC0 via Openverse

Emberline audience watching the main stage, CC0 via Openverse

One story, well paced

Agenda

The doors open for drinks and food, then Mara's talk leads into a generous interval. Bracken closes the programme with a live set, and the room stays open for another hour of conversation.