The LA Podcast Festival returns to Santa Monica today through Sunday with a stacked roster of the biggest names in comedy, bringing diehard fans and burgeoning podcasters face-to-face with some of the most popular entertainers in the world.
This year’s festival, presented by Comedy Film Nerds and Walking the Room, will be held Oct. 4-6 at the Le Meridien Delfina Santa Monica Hotel at 530 Pico Boulevard in Santa Monica.
Among the more than 40 live podcasts scheduled, the festival kicks off today with “WTF with Marc Maron,” featuring guests Dana Gould, Jimmy Pardo, Aisha Tyler, and Paul Gilmartin.
In one of its first live appearances, the #1 iTunes hit “Welcome to Night Vale” will welcome actor James Urbaniak with music from Sara Watkins.
Jon Lovitz brings “Lovitz or Leavitz,” Jason and Randy Sklar of Sklarboro Country will host comedian Nick Swardson, and Jake Fogelnest of “Fogelnest Files” welcomes Andy Richter among other surprise guests.
A star-studded Saturday night stand-op PodSmash Show will feature comedy from Marc Maron, Dana Gould, Baron Vaughn, Jake Johanssen, Wil Anderson, and Karen Kilgariff.
Panel discussions for podcasters of all levels of experience will be held throughout the weekend.
Topics include patent trolling (presented by the Electronic Frontier Foundation), monetizing your podcast, podcasting networks, and tech matters.
Sunday’s programming features a live screening of a new television episode of comedy “Bang! Bang!” followed by a Q&A session with host Scott Aukerman.
Finally, new to the event this year is the Squarespace podcasting lab, which will enable festivalgoers to set up shop and personally host the festival’s featured guests on their own podcasts.
Three-day passes are available for just $99, and single-day passes range from $29 to $59.
Visit www.lapodfest.com for tickets and a full schedule.
