Third Coast in 2024

What’s Next for Third Coast?

Third Coast is still a destination, and with your support, the organization can continue rebuilding. Below is an overview of our work in 2024.

At our core, Third Coast is anchored by a fierce belief in creating programming that lowers barriers to entry, and anchors audio communities in experimentation and solidarity.

For many years, Third Coast was a place-based organization that required makers to spend thousands of dollars in travel, food, lodging, and programming costs in Chicago each year. For an international festival that prided itself on inviting in makers at any stage of their careers, from all over the world, the high cost to attend had become an overwhelming challenge for many. Then, 2020 irrevocably changed our world. And it also changed Third Coast.

Now is a new chapter for Third Coast. Our programming might be shaped differently, but our goal is to remain a heartbeat of the narrative audio community worldwide.

We Need Third Coast Campaign

In May, we kicked off Third Coast’s year of extended fundraising with a call to our community to raise $50K toward re-launching the Third Coast Competition. And our community showed up, in a huge way. By the end of July 2024, we surpassed our goal to support the next chapter of Third Coast, raising a total of $52,635.

The team at Third Coast will continue to increase investment in the organization, and to expand our programming. If you’d like to support Third Coast, you can make a donation here. If you’re part of an institution that values our work, please reach out: info@thirdcoastfestival.org.

The 2024 Third Coast Call for Entries

Third Coast’s staff is currently building the 2024-25 Call for Entries & Competition, which will open in the fall of 2024.

Our goal is to disrupt the traditional model of a competition: we want everyone who sends us their work to get something back in return. And now that our Competition has gone independent, we can offer even more of these accessible resources for makers. You can read more about the evolutions of the program here.

And, of course, we’ll continue to celebrate the most outstanding audio stories of the year, from across the globe. Every year, we’re expanding our Third Coast Winners and Finalists in all categories.

The 2024 Audio Doctor Program

You may be wondering: What does year-round programming at Third Coast really entail? We’re thrilled to share one example with you: our 2024 Audio Doctor Program.

Thanks to the We Need Third Coast Campaign, we were able to launch the Audio Doctor Program as a way to give back to our community. We received an overwhelmingly positive response, so we decided to continue the program year-round.

During the Audio Doctor Summer Session, Third Coast released over 120 appointments from 32 featured Audio Doctors. All appointments are free, virtual appointments available to audiences worldwide. And the program will continue growing.

Sign up for the Third Coast Newsletter to be the first to hear updates about the Audio Doctor Program!

Partner with Third Coast

During the current phase of our Extended Fundraising Campaign, Third Coast is seeking institutional partners. Are you interested in learning more about supporting Third Coast through an annual sponsorship or corporate gifting program? Please reach out directly: info@thirdcoastfestival.org.