Crossed Wires: Podcast festival to be held in Sheffield

Organisers James O'Hara, Alice Levine and Dino Sofos say the event will be a weekend-long "podcast party"

A new three-day podcast festival will take place in Sheffield later this year, it has been announced.

Crossed Wires will run from 31 May to 2 June, with organisers promising to bring some of the biggest names to the city for a "podcast party".

The festival is the brainchild of the co-creator of hit comedy podcast My Dad Wrote a Porno, Alice Levine, together with Dino Sofos and James O'Hara.

Levine said they hoped to create an "Edinburgh Fringe-feel" to the event.

Among the acts taking part are Adam Buxton, Katherine Ryan, Jamie Laing and Sophie Habboo and Jon Ronson.

Sofos, who helped launch BBC podcasts Newscast and Americast before setting up his own production company, said: "People are listening to millions of podcasts every year but what we are learning is that people are more and more wanting to experience community, to go and meet the other people that are listening to shows and to be in the same room as the hosts and feel part of something.

"Live shows for podcasts over the past few years, they are selling out, they are bigger than some rock shows.

"So we thought it's time for a podcast festival across multiple venues where we bring the biggest names and have a big party really."

'Vibrant and exciting'

Events will be held at venues including the Crucible and the City Hall.

Speaking to BBC Radio Sheffield, Levine said they had chosen the city as it had a "great heritage" for cultural events.

"Not all major national events, particularly in podcasting, need to happen in London," she said.

"So, we wanted this to be a national festival that was in another vibrant, exciting city."

The festival has been supported by the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, which has provided £325,000 of funding for the event.

South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard said: "The Crossed Wires festival is further evidence of the world-leading strength of arts and culture in South Yorkshire; putting us at the forefront of one of the most innovative, exciting parts of the entertainment industry."