Ireland’s podcast and audio industry will gather in Adare this November for a new two-day summit called Sound Waves.
The event runs on 12 and 13 November 2025 and will focus on how podcasts, sport and music content can be created, monetised and scaled. It will bring together producers, publishers and creators to share knowledge and ideas.
At the close of the summit, the inaugural All-Ireland Podcast Awards will take place on Thursday 13 November. The awards will celebrate podcasts across the 32 counties of Ireland and have been established to recognise the country’s growing podcasting sector.
Dylan Haskins, Commissioner of Podcasts at BBC Sounds, has been named as Head Judge for the awards. Categories cover eight areas of podcasting, with judging carried out under clear published criteria and an independent process. Organisers have stressed that the new awards are not affiliated with any previous podcast awards in Ireland.
Entries are now open and are free to encourage wide participation. Podcasts with a clear Irish link are eligible to submit up to 15 minutes of audio and a short synopsis by the deadline of 5pm on Tuesday 16 September 2025. Irish-language entries are also invited.
Full rules and the entry form can be found at soundwaves.ie/aipa2025.
A spokesperson for the organisers said the summit is “about the craft and the business — how great ideas travel from studio to audience and back again. We’re starting as we mean to go on: smart conversations, practical takeaways and a celebration that puts creators first.”
Dylan added: “The podcast industry has grown rapidly in Ireland over the past ten years, with a really diverse mix of shows from independent creators, commercial and public service publishers. While awards by their nature involve competition, the All-Ireland Podcast Awards are really about bringing the industry together each year to celebrate and recognise the excellent work happening nationally and internationally from Irish-associated producers and hosts.”
The Sound Waves summit and awards will both be staged in Adare, County Limerick, with early bird passes available now at soundwaves.ie.
This story first appeared on Radio Today