Cardiff Animation Festival Releases Full Programme

The Cardiff Animation Festival, Wales's biggest animation event (and one of the largest in the UK) is returning for another edition next month. Across four days, the festival will feature a host of screenings, workshops, masterclasses, live performances, talks and events. Having previously revealed the programme highlights, the full programme is now available.

Hosted at Chapter Arts Centre, the festival's ninth edition will be a celebration of animation in all its forms. Renowned for championing imaginative storytelling and platforming diverse voices, the latest line-up promises to be the most packed yet.

This year's festival features LA-based British animator Julia Potts- creator of Summer Camp Island and veteran of Adventure Time- and a Japanese animation focus, with screenings of The Last Blossom and 100 Meters, in association with Kotatsu Festival. The festival also features its biggest short film competition to date, with 98 films selected from over 700 submissions and screened across eight themed strands- Play, Pause, Rewind, Mute, Home, Shuffle, Late Night and Welsh Work.  This year’s jury is made up of Pip Williamson, Sarah Schmidt and Nia Edwards‑Behi.

This year the festival is also expanding its games offering, with sessions with the BAFTA-winning Thank Goodness You're Here and the BAFTA-Nominated The Midnight Walk, supported by an exhibition of playable titles and puppets from the production.

CAF 2026 will also present a host of live events, performances and creative experiences. Sketch Showdown is a live drawing gameshow where competitors race to draw images from memory while their teammates try to guess them. Filmmaker Gerald Conn brings his sand-on-glass animation to the stage with Sand On Screen, featuring screenings, live animation and a look at his new app, Sandimation. Super Mario Kart hits the big screen in Rainbow Road Rumble, a large-scale multiplayer showdown hosted by multidisciplinary artist, animator and YouTube creator Jamie Fern Hensley‑Davies.

Industry day includes a keynote from Phillipa Rice, a career‑starter session with Copa Gaming, and panels on commissioning, feature development, digital‑first storytelling and freelancing. The festival also features a collaboration with Abertoir Festival, including a screening and Q&A on the hidden history of animation in special effects in horror cinema. It will screen alongside Ray Harryhausen's classic creature feature The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms. Dr Stacy Abbot will examine how the genre has relied on animation for over a century. The festival will also feature a screening of the Oscar-nominated feature Little Amelie Or The Character Of Rain.

Festival director Lauren Orme says: “Cardiff Animation Festival is all about bringing people together through animation, and this year’s programme is our most playful and packed yet. We’ve got beautiful films, brilliant guests, live performances, creative workshops and fun surprises. Whether you’re an animation fan, an industry professional, a budding animator, a film lover or just curious, we’d love you to join us at Chapter this April and experience the joy of animation.”

Socials and parties will bring the community together throughout the weekend, including animated karaoke hosted by Justin Drag, and a curated shorts night from Chicago-based Malt Adult.

Workshops run throughout the festival, with fun for all ages. Highlights include Aardman model making, flip-book animation, dog life drawing, sand animation with Gerald Conn, a doodle‑and‑mural session with Jamie Stockley, and a special session with Oscar-nominated animator Joanna Quinn.

The festival will climax with the Best Of The Fest Awards, hosted by Radio 1's film critic Ali Plumb. Awards will include Best Short, Best Student Short, Best Micro Short, The Young Jury Award and The Audience Award.

The festival runs from April 23-26, 2026. For more details or to buy passes, visit the festival website. A selection of events, and the shorts are also available online from April 23- May 4.