2026 American Folklore Society Annual Meeting

Welcome to the 138th AFS Annual Meeting

The American Folklore Society will gather for its 138th Annual Meeting in Asheville, North Carolina from October 27-31, 2026. The meeting will be held at the Renaissance Asheville Downtown Hotel in Asheville from October 27-31, 2026. Mark your calendars to gather in the mountains of western North Carolina with your colleagues and friends!

AFS is excited to engage with local Asheville partners before, during and after this year’s meeting. If you haven't heard, we're partnering with our colleagues at the Center for Craft, who are hosting sessions in their space both Wed., Oct. 28 and Thurs., Oct. 29.
Check the program's CfC track to see this dedicated, small-scale program of sessions and events. (We like to select grid view when looking at a 'track'; it seems easier to process the display of presentations.)

If you're new to the Fourwaves platform or simply need a refresher, we hope you're aware that the platform offers more than a program schedule. We're continuing to build in information about conference social events and other meeting offerings, a local community guide and information about the surrounding area. We also have some travel tips. We'll be adding information as the meeting draws closer. You can find this information under the tabs on the ribbon displayed at the top of each page. (Note that depending on how wide your browser window is, you might need to click on More ⌄ near the right edge of the screen to reveal additional tabs.)

One feature new to this year's meeting is the Media Library, which will include both digital posters and pre-recorded presentations. Not all the presentations will be available until closer to the meeting (Oct. 19), but we've included a preview of one presentation of each type, so you'll be familiar with how to access them and how to engage with the presenters.
We look forward to seeing you at the Annual Meeting, where presentations will explore what it means to persist—to be tenacious, steadfast, insistent—in the face of social and environmental challenges, based on the theme for this year's meeting, "Community Persistence: Reckoning with Change, Imagining Futures."