FOCUS Wales, the annual multi-venue music festival which takes place in Wrexham each May, has been hailed by organisers as "the best yet" after welcoming over 8,000 music fans to the town.

Marking the festival's eighth edition, over 200 bands and artists, packed out a variety of spaces and music venues, using 20 stages across the town including William Aston Hall, Central Station, The Fat Boar and Ty Pawb.

In addition to promoting hundreds of live gigs, FOCUS also hosted a full schedule of interactive industry sessions, stand-up comedy, arts events, and film screenings, throughout the festival.

Among the big names appearing were former Supergrass frontman Gaz Coombes, Jane Waever, Damo Suzuki, Bill Ryder Jones, This Is The Kit and Kate Rusby.

Andy Jones, Co-Founder & Music Booker, FOCUS Wales: "We'd like to say a huge thanks to everyone for making FOCUS Wales 2018 by far our biggest and best edition to date.

"While some of our figures are still being compiled from across the 20+ venues, we do know that at least 9,500 people attended our shows across the 350 performances that make up our 3 day showcase festival.

"This smashes our previous attendance record. With reps from across the globe in attendance, including the likes of Glastonbury, national broadcasters, publishers, and major labels and booking agents, it was really exciting to see deals being done on the spot between emerging Welsh artists and key industry figures.

"It's especially heart warming that we already know that a good number of our local acts have been offered potentially career defining deals during the festival, and invitations to perform at other festivals across the globe.     

"For us, being a Wrexham based organization, it was a proud moment to see Wrexham at its very best, with the hotels fully booked, restaurants and bars busy, the town hosted leading figures from the industry, from North American, Australia, Asia and across Europe, and they were all sold on Wrexham and Wales, and what we have to offer here.

"We're excited for how we can build on this now, and we'll be announcing details of our 9th edition of the festival for 2019 in the coming weeks."