The WBUR Festival

The WBUR Festival, happening on Friday, May 29 and Saturday, May 30, 2026, will feature two days of captivating conversations, podcast tapings, musical performances, and a lively street scene up and down Commonwealth Avenue.

“The WBUR Festival is serious stuff and wicked fun, too,” said Margaret Low, CEO of WBUR. “Last year was such a smashing success, we couldn’t wait to do it again. We think of the Festival as our love letter to Boston and beyond — a chance to give back to the people, the city and the region who fuel WBUR.”

Along with WBUR hosts including Meghna Chakrabarti, Tiziana Dearing, Indira Lakshmanan, Lisa Mullins and Robin Young, the first wave of speakers includes:

• José Andrés, chef, founder of World Central Kitchen — a nonprofit that provides meals in response to global crises — and best-selling author of a new book “Spain My Way,” coming out in May. Andrés holds two Michelin stars and has been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
• Marty Baron, former executive editor of The Washington Post and The Boston Globe. Under his leadership, newsrooms have won 18 Pulitzer Prizes, including 11 at the Post.
• John Bolton, former United States national security advisor to President Donald Trump, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and author of “The Room Where It Happened.”
• Katherine Maher, president and CEO of NPR and former chief executive of the Wikimedia Foundation.
• Samantha Power, New York Times bestselling author, Pulitzer Prize winner and former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N.
• Bryan Stevenson, public interest lawyer, founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative — a human rights organization in Montgomery, Ala. — and author of the bestselling memoir “Just Mercy.”
• Nicholas Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic and host of the podcast The Most Interesting Thing in AI. His 2025 memoir “The Running Ground” was recognized as a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year.
• And numerous public media friends including musician and host Jad Abumrad, founder of WNYC’s Radiolab; Allison Aubrey, NPR health and science correspondent and founding host of Life Kit; Mary Louise Kelly, co-host of NPR’s All Things Considered and host of the Sources & Methods podcast; and Sam Sanders, host of KCRW’s The Sam Sanders Show and one of the founding hosts of Vibe Check, The NPR Politics Podcast and It’s Been A Minute.
• See additional speakers confirmed so far and get tickets at wburfestival.org.

In addition to its speaker lineup, The WBUR Festival will feature a range of community-centered activities. The free street fair open to everyone will return on Saturday, May 30 with more space and more vendors, including the Found Boston market with 80 vintage sellers — twice as many as last year. Families can enjoy an all-new Kids Zone and live performances, including dance lessons with Salsa y Control and entertainment from the WBUR Makers Jake Blount and Kimaya Diggs. Attendees can also help create a massive mural — a guided, paint-by-numbers community art project designed to bring festivalgoers together and create a shared masterpiece.

Our Partners

The WBUR Festival is made possible in part by the generous support of many civic and cultural institutions. WBUR is especially thankful to our premier sponsors: Takeda, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the Boston Symphony Orchestra; and to our supporting sponsors: The Huntington, The Mehrotra Institute, Vivo Performing Arts, Hartney Greymont, The Eliot Hotel, The Trustees, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Bartlett Tree Experts and Boston University Fitness & Recreation Center. As our enduring partner and home base, Boston University helps make The WBUR Festival possible.

Additional support is provided by generous donors and sustaining Members who fuel our mission to produce high-quality journalism and enriching experiences that foster understanding, connection and community. WBUR Members receive special discounts, benefits and exclusive invitations to Festival activities. Become a Member today and discover all the possibilities while helping to sustain independent journalism.

To keep up to date on Festival news, sign up for the WBUR Events newsletter. Organizations interested in sponsoring The WBUR Festival can reach out to partnerships@wbur.org to learn more.

About WBUR

WBUR, founded in 1950, is Boston’s NPR. An award-winning producer of high-quality journalism on air, online, and on stage at CitySpace. With one of the strongest local newsrooms in America, our journalists cover the most pressing issues in our city and region. Nationally, WBUR reaches more than seven million people each week with On Point, Here & Now — a daily newsmagazine produced with NPR — and with a slate of acclaimed podcasts like Endless Thread, Circle Round and Beyond All Repair.