Happy Holidays! We have some news for you!

Hello SERFA Friends,

From slopes of Black Mountain to the banks of the Ohio River - we are ready to announce to you the 2025 SERFA Conference: May 15-18, 2025, in Owensboro, Kentucky – The Bluegrass Music Capital of the World! We are teaming up with Owensboro Convention Center, Visit Owensboro, The Hampton Inn, and The Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum to host the event. 

This will be a brand-new area along the Ohio River, about two hours north from Nashville, TN. It has a walkable main street within minutes of the Owensboro Convention Center, where most of the SERFA activities will take place. We will continue to have inspiring speakers, resourceful workshops, and of course, meals together. This will be a totally different scene, but the spirit of SERFA will still ring loud!

Owensboro is rolling out the red carpet for us, after the devastating Hurricane Helene swept through the Black Mountain/Asheville, NC area back at the end of September. We immediately sprang into action to find out what to do and teamed up with Terry Bemis of Conference Direct, a specialized group that finds locations for various events. They have worked with Folk Alliance International, AmericanaFest, and our neighbors in the FARM region. Their attention to our urgency to make this happen has been so appreciated and came as a relief to the board, so we didn’t have to do all the heavy lifting on our own.

Exciting news of having the official showcases in the beautiful Woodward Theatre inside the Bluegrass Museum, to having digital signage (a personal YAY for me), to having easy access to the buildings will make this conference fun, and we think everyone will come away with something.

We wanted to tell you the good news before the upcoming holiday week. We will be launching our website with the details in mid-January.

Perhaps you would like to explore the area via their websites over the next few weeks.
www.visitowensboro.com
https://www.bluegrasshall.org/

Thank you for your patience as we explored our options to find a home for SERFA 2025.

The 2024/25 SERFA Board

Jill Kettles
Matthew Sabatella
Adrian Krygowski
Alice Hasen
Bruce Swan
Joe Pszonek
Nicholas Edward Williams
Lucy Isabel
Lee Zimmerman

IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING HOTEL (Hampton Inn) AND LOCATION (Owensboro Center & Bluegrass Museum)

FLOOR MAP of Owensboro Center: https://owensborocenter.com/floor-plans/

Food and Beverage on location: https://owensborocenter.com/food-beverage/ - Breakfast covered by official hotel Hampton Inn also.

Owensboro Center FAQ’s: https://owensborocenter.com/event-faqs/

HAMPTON INN Official Hotel Website: https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/owbdwhx-hampton-suites-downtown-owensboro-waterfront/

SERFA Rate $159/night standard, $179/night suite