First announcements for Cheerful Earful and London Podcast Festival

The Cheerful Earful comedy podcast festival and the London Podcast Festival have both confirmed their returns this autumn.

Cheerful Earful will be hosting 15 days of live podcasts across London, Melbourne, and - for the first time - New York City.

Festival director Giles Gear said: ‘Cheerful Earful began as a four-day run of live shows and has since grown into a year- round celebration of funny podcasts… It’s been amazing to see audiences, creators, and partners connecting in ways that go far beyond the stage.’

The festival will run in Melbourne’s Stupid Old Studios from October 3 to 5, featuring shows such as Do Go On and Plumbing the Death Star, before moving to Cavet in New York with the likes of  What Went Wrong, Go Touch Grass and The Puzzler with AJ Jacob

Then it runs in London, centred on  The Bedford in Balham and The Clapham Grand from October 12 to 19, where headliners include Trusty Hogs, Clinton Baptiste’s Paranormal Podcast, Lateral with Tom Scott, and BudPod.

Becky Stevenson, event manager at The Bedford, said: ‘Cheerful Earful have quickly become a part of The Bedford story and we’re so proud to be the festival hub again this year. The festival brings in such a good vibe and we love being a part of it.’

The first tickets are on sale now from the festival website.

Meanwhile, the London Podcast Festival is returning to Kings Place from September 2 to 14 for its tenth edition. 

The first wave of shows announced today includes No Such Thing As A ​Fish, performing on September 5 and 6; Wooden Overcoats celebrating its own tenth anniversary  on September 7; and Jameela Jamil’s new podcast Wrong Turns on 14 September.

The No Such Thing As A FISH team, pictured, said in a statement: ‘Ten years is how long it takes to grow truffles from nothing, how long it takes to qualify in making artificial sushi, and how long it once took a translator to successfully translate two words of an Agatha Christie book into Icelandic.

‘The organisers could have done any of these things with their time – and instead they’ve just made a brilliant podcast festival.’

Tickets for the first wave of shows go on sale today, starting at £11.

Published: 1 Jul 2025