Folk Alliance

August 14 - 15, 2026
Mexico City, Mexico

Official: Official showcase submission deadline for the 2026 ¡Hola SWRFA! is June 26, 2026.

Private: No private showcases, but ¡Hola SWRFA! will present an Open Mic, in addition to official showcases.

August 14 - 15, 2026
Mexico City, Mexico

¡Hola SWRFA! is the first official SWRFA / Folk Alliance event to take place in the country of Mexico, one of the territories represented by SWRFA. It has been organized in collaboration with Access Film Music LLC, the Official Music Partner of the All Americas Independent Film Festival which will be taking place in Ciudad de México August 14 - 16, 2026.

September 23 - 27, 2026
Holiday Inn Austin Midtown
Austin, Texas USA

SWRFA includes these regions: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and the country of Mexico.

Official: Official showcase submission deadline for the 2026 SWRFA Conference is July 3, 2026.

Private: Yes. SWRFA calls these "In-Room Showcases".

• 2026: Holiday Inn Austin Midtown
  Austin, Texas USA
  September 23 - 27, 2026
• 2027: Location and dates unknown, probably Austin, Texas in late September
• 2028: Location and dates unknown, probably Austin, Texas in late September
• To see all of SWRFA's upcoming events, including their regional one-day events, visit SWFolkAlliance.org/upcoming-events

• 2025: Holiday Inn Austin Midtown
  Austin, Texas USA
  September 24 - 28, 2025
• 2024: Holiday Inn Austin Midtown
  Austin, Texas USA
  September 25 - 29, 2024
• 2023: Holiday Inn Austin Midtown
  Austin, Texas USA
  September 27 - October 1, 2023

October 15 - 18, 2026
Double Tree by Hilton Portland
Portland, Oregon USA

FAR-West includes these regions: Alaska, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, and the Canadian provinces and territories of Alberta, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Yukon Territory.

Official: Showcase submission deadline for the 2026 FAR-West Conference was May 10, 2026.

Private: Yes, on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. FAR-West calls these "Private Late Night Showcases".

October 22 - 25, 2026
The Royal Sonesta
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA

FARM includes these regions: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin and the Canadian provinces and territories of Manitoba, Nunavut, and Saskatchewan.

Official: Official showcase submissions opened on March 15, 2026 and closed on May 31, 2026.

Private: Yes. Information available on FARMfolk.org/general-conference-info/showcasing/private.

November 12 - 15, 2026
The Desmond Hotel Crowne Plaza Albany
Albany, New York USA

NERFA includes these regions: Connecticut, Delaware, the Disrict of Columbia (Washington D.C. and its metro area including the Virginia counties of Loudoun, Fairfax, and Prince William), Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, and Québec.

Official: Showcase submission deadline for the 2026 Conference was May 11, 2026 (NERFA calls these "Formal Showcases").

Private: Yes. NERFA calls these "Private Guerrilla Showcases" ("PGS"). Information about NERFA's Private Showcases, including deadlines and other important dates can be found at NERFAconference.org/2026-private-showcase

• 2026: The Desmond Hotel Crowne Plaza Albany
  Albany, New York USA
  November 12 - 15, 2026
• 2027: Location and dates unknown
• 2028: Location and dates unknown

• 2025: Desmond Hotel
  Albany, New York
  November 6 - 9, 2025
  31st annual
• 2024: Holiday Inn by the Bay
  Portland, Maine
  November 21 - 24, 2024
  30th annual
• 2023: Asbury Park, New Jersey
  November 9 - 12, 2023
  29th annual

January 27 - 31, 2027
Hilton Chicago Hotel
Chicago, Illinois USA

Official: Official showcase applications for the 2027 Folk Alliance International Conference opened May 1 and close on June 8, 2026.

Private: Yes. Extensive private showcase opportunities available.

To be considered for Access Film Music LLC's Private Showcase Rooms, please email info@accessfilmmusic.com.

Folk Alliance typically posts the complete list of Private Showcase hosts in August each year, on this page: Folk.org/conference/private-showcases under the heading "Hosted by Conference Attendees"

• 2027: Chicago, Illinois USA
  January 27 - 31, 2027
• 2028: Kansas City, Missouri USA
  January 26 - 30, 2028
• 2029: Unknown location and dates
• 2030: New Orleans, Louisiana USA
  January 23 - 27, 2030
• 2031: Unknown location in Canada
  Dates unknown
• 2032: New Orleans, Louisiana USA
  January 21 - 25, 2032

• 2026: New Orleans, Louisiana USA
  January 21 - 25, 2026
• 2025: Montréal, Québec Canada
  February 19 - 23, 2025
• 2024: Kansas City Missouri USA
  February 21 - 25, 2024

Unknown dates and location

Nordic Folk Alliance includes Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

Official: Artist submissions usually open in Autumn, but for NFA 2026, due to scheduling and funding delays, only artists who submitted for NFA 2025 were considered for official showcases for the 2026 conference. Official showcases are restricted to artists from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

Private: No.

Unknown dates and location

• 2026: Malmö, Sweden
  9 - 11 April, 2026
• 2025: Uppsala Konsert & Kongress (UKK)
  Uppsala, Sweden
  April 3 - 5, 2025
• 2024: Roskilde, Denmark
  May 21 - May 24, 2024

April 19, 2026
Santa Fe, New Mexico USA

Official: None, but there will be a Community Open Mic at El Rey Court.

Private: None, but there will be a Community Open Mic at El Rey Court.

April 19, 2026
Santa Fe, New Mexico USA

• 2025: Information requested
• 2024: Information requested
• 2023: Information requested

April 26, 2026
Prescott, Arizona USA

Official: Information requested.

Private: Information requested.

April 26, 2026
Prescott, Arizona USA

• 2025: Information requested
• 2024: Information requested
• 2023: Information requested

April 29 - 30, 2026
Cyberspace

Official: Information requested.

Private: No.

April 29 - 30, 2026
Cyberspace

• 2025: June 17 - 18, 2025
• 2024: Information requested
• 2023: Information requested

May 28 - 31, 2026
Owensboro, Kentucky

SERFA includes Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.

Official: Artist submissions may open as early as December in the year prior to the conference. SERFA 2026 official showcase submissions opened on December 12th, 2025 and closed February 1st, 2026.

Private: Yes, limited. Check serfa.org for details.

May 28 - 31, 2026 - Owensboro, Kentucky USA

• 2025: Owensboro, Kentucky USA
  May 15 - 18, 2025
• 2024: Black Mountain, North Carolina USA
  May 9 - 12, 2024
• 2023: Black Mountain, North Carolina USA
  May 4 - 7, 2023

2027 date unknown
2027 location unknown

Official: In previous years, there weren't showcases, but there was an Open Mic.

Private: In previous years, there weren't showcases, but there was an Open Mic.

2027 date unknown
2027 location unknown

• 2026: Swallow Hill - Denver, Colorado USA
  May 31, 2026
• 2025: Swallow Hill - Denver, Colorado USA
• 2024: Information requested

June 12, 2027
Richmond, Indiana USA

June 12, 2027 - Richmond, Indiana USA
2028: Richmond, Indiana

Folk Alliance International's "ExChange" events were FAI's first forays outside of North America. They produced 3 ExChange events, but the program is now defunct. However, their 2nd event, held in Gothenburg, Sweden April 18 - 20, 2018 evolved into Nordic Folk Alliance.

• 2019: FAI ExChange, in partnership with the Port Fairy Folk Festival
  Geelong, Victoria, Australia
  March 2 - 4, 2020
• 2018: FAI ExChange, in partnership with Nordic Music Export (Pre-cursor to Nordic Folk Alliance)
  Gothenburg, Sweden
  April 18 - 20, 2018
• 2017: FAI ExChange, in partnership with Culture Ireland and the Clonakilty International Guitar Festival
  Clonakilty, County Cork, Ireland
  September 19 - 21, 2017

October 2026
Location unknown

Despite the name, Folk Alliance Australia is NOT affiliated with the North American-based Folk Alliance International organization in any way.

Events produced by Folk Alliance Australia are NOT true "Folk Alliance" events, but we include them on this page in order to dispel confusion.

Our impression over the years is that information on the FAA website is often out-of-date and usually lacks specific information about upcoming events.

It would appear that their primary event is the Australian Folk Music Awards (AFMAs) that usually seems to take place in October. FAA also provides small grants to its members and appears to support Australian folk music through other activities and programs.

Even though FAA is not affiliated with the North Amnerican Folk Alliance International organization and does not appear to host a "Folk Alliance-style" showcase event, the organization could still be a source of valuable information and contacts for folk and acoustic musicians seeking opportunities and contacts in Australia.

FAA does publish a robust online list of Australian folk music festivals and links to other Australian and international music organizations.

A small selection of true "Showcase Events" in Australia can be found on the Access Abundance Showcase Events Worldwide Wiki.

Official: No information.

Private: No information.

October 2026
Location unknown

• 2025: AFMAs (Awards) - Melbourne, Victoria Australia
  October 22, 2025
• 2024: Information requested
• 2023: Information requested