The Cardiff International Arena has been the main concert for venue in Wales for the past five years. It is only recently with the arrival of the Millenium stadium that Cardiff has started to attract bigger bands.

The CIA as it is called is situated in the centre of the city so it has really good access. There is not much parking around it but space can be found furher away by the museum area. The train station is near and so is the bus station.

Inside the arena there are palces for about 8,000+ people. It is not the biggest venue and for that reason some of the bigger names don't seem to play there. With the concert they either make them all seated or their is standing places in the middle.

They have had a wide selection of bands appearing at the CIA. Past performers include Oasis, Blur, Boyzone, Bryan Adams, Meatloaf, All Saints, Texas, Stereophonics, Tom Jones and many more.

Facilities are good. Toilets can be found easily and are very clean. Drinks and food can be bought inside and they also have merchandise stands so that you can buy t-shirts and things.

Overall this is a good concert venue which should have been bigger when they originally built it. Now it complements the Millenium stadium well. Certainly worth a visit if you fancy seeing a conert there.