UK independent podcast producer Goalhanger sold 26,000 tickets across 22 shows for the inaugural “The Rest Is Fest,” a three-day live podcasting festival held at London’s Southbank Centre from September 4-6, the company announced.

The festival took over the venue’s Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Purcell Room, bringing together shows from across Goalhanger’s network for the first time in one location. Programming spanned politics, history, football, entertainment, science, money, literature, espionage and drama.

Headline events included Gary Lineker in conversation with Stanley Tucci, the first live editions of “The Rest Is Football,” “The Rest Is Money,” “The Book Club” and “The Rest Is Science,” two performances of “The Rest Is History,” live editions of “The Rest Is Politics” and “The Rest Is Politics US,” and “The Rest Is Quiz,” hosted by Richard Osman and Marina Hyde. The lineup also included “The Rest Is Entertainment,” “Empire,” “Sherlock & Co.,” “We Have Ways of Making You Talk” and “Football Clichés,” along with festival-exclusive formats such as “Scaramucci vs The Rest Is Classified: Team America” and “The Special Relationship,” a crossover between “The Rest Is Politics” and “The Rest Is Politics US.”

Guests across the weekend included Stanley Tucci, Mary Beard, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Joe Marler, Josephine Quinn, Ali Ansari, Aziz Abu Sarah and Maoz Inon.

Tony Pastor, co-founder of Goalhanger, said roughly 85% of attendees came specifically to see one particular show. “Bringing all of those different audiences together under one roof, from The Rest Is Politics and Empire to We Have Ways, The Rest Is Entertainment and so many more, has been really special,” Pastor said. “We’re incredibly proud of what the whole Goalhanger team, our talent and everyone at the Southbank Centre created this weekend.”

“The Rest Is Fest” was staged as part of the Southbank Centre’s 75th anniversary program, drawing on the spirit of the 1951 Festival of Britain.

Goalhanger’s catalog includes “The Rest Is History,” “The Rest Is Politics,” “Empire,” “The Rest Is Money,” and “The Rest Is Football,” among others, with the company reporting over 400 million downloads across its shows in 2024.

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