By Vanessa Cavasinni, editor Australian Hotelier
The Elephant British Pub is hosting the inaugural Adelaide Podcast Festival in its premises.
The new event will be held on the evenings of 28 February and 7 March, and will include record live recordings of The Mark and Chris Show and The Badcast podcasts. More podcasts will be announced to the line-up shortly. The festival will focus on culture and comedy, and podcast listeners will be able to interact with podcasts hosts and see an episode created in real time.
The guys behind The Badcast show regularly record in the function space at The Elephant British Pub, as the presenters have long ties to the pub – either having worked at the pub, or performed their during the Adelaide Fringe Festival. Liam Carter of The Badcast had been wanting to create a local podcast festival for some time, and Will Taylor, general manager of The Elephant, proposed that the venue host the space. He expects there to be some decent interest in the two-night event, which will coincide with the Adelaide Fringe Festival.
“Since this is the first time this kind of event will be happening in Adelaide, we expect a fair amount of interest. Holding the Adelaide Podcast Festival during the Adelaide Fringe will help with people’s willingness to try/participate in something different. Since we began advertising last week, we have been pleasantly surprised at the response so far.”
There’s also strategy involved in the decision to host, with the event likely to attract more than just regulars to the pub.
“Being a part of the Adelaide Podcast Festival will allow us to broaden the pub’s appeal to a new customer base – one that is actively engaging with the biggest rival to conventional radio content. With podcasts, they remain available for people to download and listen for many years to come. This means that the reach of any one Podcast show has the potential to keep providing exposure to the advertisers within the Podcasts long after the recording has been uploaded,” explains Taylor.
Taylor foresees several advantages for all parties involved in the podcast festival, including the pub, which is striving to think outside of the box for its entertainment offering.
“I feel that both The Elephant British Pub and the podcasts taking part in the Festival will mutually help each other in growing the relevance of podcasting in Adelaide (and Australia), along with showcasing the versatility that pubs can provide for live artists and performers.”