Cardiff is the cultural capital of Wales, with top-quality venues, including the Oval Basin, an open-air auditorium next to Mermaid Quay, Cardiff Bay, which is designed for concerts and special events. Wales Millennium Centre (Canolfan Mileniwm Cymru) opened with great fanfare on the Waterfront at Cardiff Bay in November 2004 (tel: 0870 040 2000; website: www.wmc.org.uk), providing a new home for organisations such as Welsh National Opera (tel: (029) 2063 5000; website: www.wno.org.uk) and Diversions - the Dance Company of Wales (tel: (029) 2063 5600; website: www.diversionsdance.co.uk).

Tickets to cultural events and performance can be purchased via the various venues, either online or by telephone. Once in Cardiff, visitors are able to purchase tickets in person from the box offices.

A good source of information about events in Cardiff is the monthly (and free) Buzz magazine, which is printed and distributed in South Wales. The website www.bigcardiff.co.uk is also useful.

Music: The male voice choir is an internationally acclaimed symbol of Welsh pride. Local exponents include the Cardiff Male Choir - Côr Meibion Caerdydd (tel: 07785 268 989; website: www.cardiffmalechoir.co.uk) and South Wales Male Choir - Côr Meibion De Cymru (website: www.cmdc.org.uk). St David's Hall, The Hayes (tel: (029) 2087 8444; website: www.stdavidshallcardiff.co.uk) is the national concert hall for Wales and Cardiff's main music venue and plays host to the biannual Cardiff Singer of the World Competition. Competitors have included world-famous figures such as baritone Bryn Terfel. The hall is also the performance home of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales (tel: 0800 052 1812; website: www.bbc.co.uk/wales/now). The Welsh National Opera (tel: (029) 2063 5000; website: www.wno.org.uk) now performs at the Wales Millennium Centre (Canolfan Mileniwm Cymru) on the Waterfront at Cardiff Bay (tel: 0870 040 2000; website: www.wmc.org.uk).

Theatre: The New Theatre, Park Place (tel: (029) 2087 8889; website: www.newtheatrecardiff.co.uk) was founded in 1906 and completely refurbished in the 1980s. It is now the premier venue in Wales for touring theatre and dance companies. Companies playing at the New Theatre in recent years have included the Royal National Theatre, Clwyd Theatr Cymru and the Northern Ballet Theatre. The Sherman Theatre, Senghennydd Road (tel: (029) 2064 6900; website: www.shermantheatre.co.uk) has a resident company and hosts national and international tour groups in its main and studio theatres. Maintaining the longstanding oral tradition in Wales, Academi (tel: (029) 2047 2266; website: www.academi.org) organises poetry readings and other events in Cardiff.

Dance: The Wales Millennium Centre (Canolfan Mileniwm Cymru) (see above) is also home to the contemporary dance group Dance Company of Wales (tel: (029) 2063 5600; website: www.diversionsdance.co.uk), which commissions and premieres work from cutting-edge international choreographers, frequently touring Wales, the UK and abroad.

Film: Mainstream films can be seen at Cineworld, Mary Ann Street (tel: 0871 200 2000; website: www.cineworld.co.uk) and Vue Cardiff, Millennium Plaza (tel: 0871 224 0240; website: www.myvue.com) as well as at the multiplexes Odeon, Red Dragon Centre, Hemingway Road (tel: 0871 224 4007; website: www.odeon.co.uk) and Showcase, Nantgarw, north of the city (tel: 0871 220 1000; website: www.showcasecinemas.co.uk). The Chapter Arts Centre (tel: (029) 2030 4400; www.chapter.org) screens independent and alternative films at its Market Road centre in Canton.

Films set in Cardiff range from the 1959 classic, Tiger Bay, directed by J Lee Thompson and starring Hayley and John Mills, to Human Traffic (1999), Justin Kerrigan's portrayal of one wild weekend in Cardiff.

Literary Notes: The most famous writers from Cardiff are probably Roald Dahl, born in Llandaff in 1916, whose autobiography Boy (1984) touches upon his early years in the city, and Ken Follett, the best-selling writer of thrillers and historical novels, who was also born in the city. Dannie Abse was also born in Cardiff, as the title of his autobiography, There Was a Young Man from Cardiff (1991), suggests. Novels set in Cardiff city include River Out of Eden (1951) by Jack Jones, Glass Shot (1991) by Duncan Bush and Cardiff Dead (2000) by John Williams. The late R S Thomas, one of Wales' greatest poets, was born in the city, although his later poems and were generally centred elsewhere. The poets Peter Finch, who penned Useful (1997) and Food (2001) and Gwyneth Lewis, author of Zero Gravity (1998), both hail from Cardiff. The latest series of Doctor Who, the primetime BBC TV show, were and continue to be filmed in the city.