A guitar signed by the Manic Street Preachers will be raffled at Diverse Music as part of Newport’s Record Store Day on Saturday, April 22.

The city will be celebrating national Record Store Day with a day of live music and a fundraiser for Velindre Cancer Centre, which provides specialist cancer services in south east Wales.

Newport Now, the business-led body which supports and promotes the city centre, has given the national event a real boost this year. There will be live stages at the junction of Charles Street and Commercial Street and outdoors at the Riverfront Theatre. A variety of exciting bands and DJs will perform throughout the day.

Newport’s Record Store Day celebrations were launched at Diverse Music in Charles Street.

Newport Now chairman Alan Edwards said: “Diverse Music is a terrific example of an independent record store, and it’s right in the heart of the city, so this year we’re broadening out the event to take over Newport centre with a full day of popular live entertainment.

“We’re also extremely grateful to the Manic Street Preachers for contributing this fantastic raffle prize which we hope will make a significant contribution to Velindre’s great work.”


BBC Radio 1 DJ and Swn Festival curator Huw Stephens said: “Independent record stores are the lifeblood of the music industry, so it’s great to have a day that focuses on them, and as a Welshman I’m proud that, in Diverse Music in Newport, we have a great example of a store thriving with the resurgence of interest in vinyl.”

Diverse Music is one of the last remaining independent record stores in South Wales, and a sister company of Diverse Vinyl and the ‘vinyl only’ Diverse Records independent label.

Record Store Day is a nationwide celebrationof the UK’s 200-plus independent record stores, as buoyant now as ever following the resurgence of vinyl.

Paul Hawkins, of Diverse, said:
“Through the years Diverse Music continued to stock all new releases on vinyl. It soon became apparent that not only were we the only shop in South Wales with a decent stock of vinyl, we were receiving phone calls from customers all over the UK desperate to for new vinyl releases which weren’t available in their local stores.

“As well as providing for local vinyl junkies, our website has become a major portal for analogue fans worldwide, so it’s great that Newport Now is making the most of Record Store Day 2017 with live music in the city centre for what we hope will be a big crowd.”

Tickets for the guitar raffle are available from Diverse Music. Funds raised from the guitar raffle will go to Velindre Cancer Centre, a specialist cancer treatment centre in Cardiff. It provides services to more than 1.5 million people across south east Wales and beyond. Each year the centre treats more than 5,000 new referrals and around 50,000 new outpatients. Its dedicated staff of more than 670 work as a close-knit team, providing patients and families with the best possible care and treatment.

Check out newportnow.co.uk for updates on the music programme. Diverserecords.co.uk.