Columbus's first podcast festival kicks off Wednesday night on the Short North Stage. Along with a DIY contest and workshops, 17 podcasts will be featured - most of which are homegrown.
"There was already a landscape, that's why I was inspired to set forth to do this festival," says organizer Brian Doney. "This was just a chance for us to get together for the first time and become that community."
Doney says the podcasting scene in Columbus is just beginning to find its footing.
"We want to do more, we want to be in your face, we want to connect with you," he says. "And that's the same spirit, I think, Columbus has been having in the past few years."
While the typical podcasting stalwarts like politics and comedy are represented in programs like FiliBUSTED! and The Comedy Underground, Doney points to more specific fare as proof of the city's chops.
"There's Guitar Knobs, which is a show about three guys who are experts in guitar manufacturing," Doney says. "They each bring a different kind of expertise to the table, and they talk about the history of guitars, building guitars. So we have something as specific and niche as that."
Another notable, Doney says, is It's All Been Done Radio Hour, a scripted radio drama that's recorded every month at Mad Lab Theater.
"We're excited to have as how like that on the festival as well, to really give some diversity and show that there's all these different voices happening in Columbus right now," Doney says. "That's the thing, we didn't create these for the festival. They were already there the whole time."
The Columbus Podcast Festival will take place at the Short North Stage from April 26-27, with podcasting workshops and DIY podcast contests at 6:30 p.m followed by shows at 8 p.m.
