The annual DS Podcast Festival took place on 7 and 8 November in Ostend and attracted no fewer than 1,800 podcast fans. Visitors enjoyed more than 100 speakers, 48 interactive sessions and 10 live recordings.
As tradition dictates, the festival opened with the presentation of De Oorkondes – the awards honouring the best local audio productions. De Oorkondes are the Flemish Podcast Awards, organised by Toerisme Oostende and hosted at the DS Podcast Festival.
De Standaard took home two awards:
- Current Affairs: Kop of munt
- Insight: Stoffelijk
This is the fourth consecutive year that De Standaard wins the Current Affairs award.
Kop of munt, by journalist Alina Churikova, explains an economic theme each week in an accessible way.
Stoffelijk, a five‑part series by Veerle Duflou, explores—together with the University of Antwerp—what happens to bodies donated to science.
Nieuwsblad also earned recognition. In the Narrative category, it won with Voor de eer, the debut podcast by Debby De Ridder. She was able to realise her gripping story about a forced marriage after winning Nieuwsblad’s De grote podcastwedstrijd.
