The BBC is expanding its partnership with Crossed Wires as the Sheffield-based event continues its rise as what organisers describe as "the world's biggest podcasting festival".
BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 4 have been announced as official Fringe partners for the 2026 edition of Crossed Wires, which takes place from 2-5 July. As part of the expanded collaboration, the broadcaster will take over two venues across the festival, host a programme of free live events and, for the first time, make selected sessions available on BBC iPlayer.
Returning to Sheffield's former Cole Brothers Department Store, BBC Sounds will present a programme of live podcast recordings and special events. Highlights include a special edition of Radio 2 Book Club with Sara Cox and Lisa Jewell, Sort Your Life Out Unpacked, Traitors: Uncloaked, Gangster, Newscast and Top Comment.
Radio 4, meanwhile, will establish a presence at The Montgomery, bringing some of its best-known programmes to audiences in the city. Festival-goers will be able to attend recordings of Woman's Hour, In Our Time, Political Thinking and The Archers Podcast, alongside live editions of podcasts including Sixty Years of Hurt, Lady Killers, Uncanny and To Catch a King and more.
Across both venues, audiences will be able to attend live recordings and exclusive sessions spanning news, entertainment, sport, comedy, history and culture. For those unable to attend in person, selected events will be available on BBC iPlayer for the first time, allowing audiences across the UK to experience some of the festival's biggest conversations from home. The full BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 4 line-up is available via the Crossed Wires website.
