The Third Coast International Audio Festival (TCIAF or TCF) is a festival based in Chicago showcasing feature and documentary audio work. It is sometimes referred to as "the Sundance of radio."[1][2] The festival was affiliated with Chicago Public Radio (WBEZ), and includes a weekly radio show (Re:Sound), an annual competition, nationwide broadcast, conference, web site and Chicago-based listening series. Prominent speakers at the annual conference have included Ira Glass, Nancy Updike, Joe Frank, the Kitchen Sisters, Jay Allison, Jad Abumrad, and Robert Krulwich.[3]
The term Third Coast refers to the fact that the Great Lakes are an inland coast, the idea that the US population tends to be higher on the east and west costs, and that Chicago, lying on the shores of Lake Michigan, is the third largest city in the U.S.