PROVINCETOWN — TEDxProvincetown wants local speakers for its 2020 season, with the theme of "Helltown."

“We’re looking for smart, fresh talks that are inspired by the Cape’s maverick, ‘beyond convention’ perspective,” said Ian Edwards, producer of the program.

With the date of Oct. 10 set for the event, applications for speaking slots opened Thursday, Jan. 2. The application deadline is March 2. Seven or eight speakers will be selected.

As a result of its first show in June, 2018, and the second in September, 2019, TEDxProvincetown has 18 published talks with a combined YouTube audience of 171,000 viewers, as of the end of 2019, according to a press release. Separately, 2018 speaker and bee ecologist Noah Wilson-Rich has 1.65 million views on the main TED.com channel, which makes it one of the most watched Provincetown-branded videos on the web, the release states.

Along with Wilson-Rich, the most watched TEDxProvincetown talks are Marti Gould Cummings (about drag and leadership), Frank Strona (about gay “bear” culture), Agnes Mittermayr (about conservation and food webs) and Ryan Landry (about the “cage of normalcy”), according to the release.

Helltown is an early nickname for Provincetown, and "we wanted to tie into the history of the region and also the attitude today,” Edwards said of the 2020 goals.

The speakers will explore the ways Provincetown’s history and attitude can be applied throughout the world, and what it says about the future. The 2020 TEDxProvincetown event will expand its programming with side events to be revealed at a later date.

TEDxProvincetown is put on by the Cape Cod Center for Sustainability and is an independently-produced TED-licensed event.

TED is a nonprofit devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks, 18 minutes or less. TED began in 1984 as a conference where technology, entertainment and design converged, and today covers almost all topics — from science to business to global issues — in more than 100 languages. Independently run TEDx events, like in Provincetown, help share ideas in communities around the world.

Those interested in speaking at the local event can apply at tedxprovincetown.com/submit. Discounted early-bird tickets for the 2020 TEDxProvincetown will go on sale in February.