Resonate Podcast Festival is coming to South Africa - Applications open for residency

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Cape Town festival

In partnership with Radio Workshop, Cape Town will host this landmark gathering on 19-20 February 2027—a pivotal moment for the continent’s rapidly expanding audio storytelling landscape.

The festival will run a six-month residency in the lead-up to the festival. Resonate Story Lab: Africa Otherwise is an intensive audio documentary residency for storytellers ready to deepen their craft and to rethink how stories about the continent are told. Across Africa, oral traditions run deep, yet too much storytelling is confined to news cycles and talk-based formats that flatten lived realities into headlines and soundbites.

The residency supports journalists, filmmakers, podcasters, and other creatives to tell character-driven, sonically rich documentaries. No previous experience working in audio is required. The programme is open to Africa-based applicants aged 18–35.

Participants will engage in a process that is both creative and collective: developing and pitching stories to international platforms, producing work for global broadcast and exchanging with peers committed to reshaping how stories are told.

Key details:

Application Deadline: 11 May 2026 (6 pm SAST)

Dates:

• August 1-9, 2026: in-person in Johannesburg

• September 2026 - January 2027: online

• February 19-20, 2027: in-person in Cape Town

Languages: English does not need to be your first language, but you must be able to communicate fluently in English for the sessions.

What is Included: Round-trip airfare, accommodation, and a stipend will be provided for participation in the workshop in Johannesburg, and for the Resonate Podcast Festival in Cape Town. Funds to cover story production and an audio recording kit.