MUMBAI: It is time for radio professionals around the world to prepare themselves for the fifth annual International Radio Festival(IRF), which will take place at Kaufleuten in Zurich, Switzerland. This year the IRF has introduced the first edition of the annual Mixcloud and IRF Online Radio Awards.

Unlike its previous four-day festival, this year, the IRF has been expanded to 18 days, and will cover music and radio related content.

From 21 August, IRF will feature a number of Swiss labels. There will also be shows with home-grown talents like Drumpoet Community, MISM Records, Miteinander Musik, Electrosanne, Kumquat and more.

This year's IRF will also include the Zurich Openair, which will take place between 28 and 31 August. The event's line-up includes Deadmau5, Paolo Nutini, Woodkid, Parov Stelar Band, Röyksopp and Robyn and White Lies amongst others. Radio presenter Joana Mauch will interview the announced bands and artistes, and also conduct street surveys.

On Wednesday, 3 September IRF will host the Swiss Radio Day focusing on stations and formats from all parts of Switzerland including a show provided by SRF Virus.

On 6 September, radio pioneer Tony Prince will broadcast the ‘Radio Flashback' show and Gordon Mac (of London's Kiss FM fame and founder of the new station Mi-Soul) will join him on air. During the show, they will discuss the evolution of UK radio culture and the future of radio.

The submission for the first edition for Online Radio Awards closed on 29 July 2014 for the best show and station across ten categories by a public and industry panel vote. The winner for the same will fly to Zurich to have their show aired at IRF from 3 to 6 September 2014, and will be awarded 'The Best Online Radio Station 2014'.Winners will be selected from categories like best stations and best shows from around the world.

Meanwhile, Radioandmusic.com and Mixcloud.com teamed up for the third time to find India's best FM Radio Show and Radio Jockey to be showcased at this year's IRF, for which the selection process is ongoing. The winners in these two categories will be announced soon.

Since 2010, IRF has been a platform for industry professionals for B2B activities and a festival open to public. IRF would bring together over 50 radio stations from around the world, presenting more than 80 music radio shows live on-air and broadcasting such shows to a worldwide audience. Stations that are named include BBC Radio One, Kiss FM Berlin, Kiss92 Singapore, RTL Milano, Star FM Dubai, Radio Nova Paris, XFM UK, Soho London Radio, Radio 24 Zurich, Ibiza Sonica, Rouge FM and WSPN FM amongst others.