Announcing the WBUR Festival in celebration of 75 years

WBUR, Boston's NPR, was founded in 1950 and is marking its 75th anniversary with the first-ever WBUR Festival in late spring of 2025.

Kicking off with a live, local performance of fan-favorite Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me, the NPR news quiz, the WBUR Festival will take place from Thursday, May 29 through Saturday, May 31, 2025.

Throughout the weekend, festival attendees will engage with fascinating people grappling with the most consequential issues of our time — from the state of our democracy to the state of our climate.

"Boston is home to some of the most brilliant people in the world — and given what we do every day, WBUR is the ideal convener," says CEO Margaret Low.

WBUR will bring together great thinkers and doers, from Boston and across the country, to confront today's biggest challenges and to imagine what's possible tomorrow. The festival promises a lineup of top speakers and captivating conversations, along with musical performances, memorable food and a lively street scene. Low says it will be "world-class programming and wicked fun, too. The perfect way to mark WBUR's 75th."

Before joining WBUR in January 2020, Low was president of AtlanticLIVE, The Atlantic's events division, which, during her tenure, produced more than 100 conferences a year across the country. Low joined The Atlantic from NPR in the fall of 2014, and in a short time transformed its events business into a live journalism juggernaut that set the standard for the news industry.

This new festival will be produced by WBUR in collaboration with Evan Smith. Smith is a senior adviser at Emerson Collective, founded by Laurene Powell Jobs, and The Texas Tribune, which he co-founded in 2009 and led for more than 13 years as its CEO. During his tenure, Smith created The Texas Tribune Festival, a signature event in Austin that brings Texans closer to politics, policy and the day's news. TribFest has a stellar reputation and a storied history of hosting can't-miss conversations for thousands of people from across the state and around the country.

All proceeds from the WBUR Festival will help support our mission to produce high-quality journalism and enriching experiences that deepen understanding, connection and community for an expanding circle of people.

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