Announcing our 2026 Theme: COURAGE
- Tom Tom Foundation Staff
- Oct 13
- 3 min read
Updated: Oct 24
October 15, 2025: For Immediate Release
Charlottesville’s signature festival returns April 22–26, 2026, exploring the courage to act boldly, bridge divides, and imagine a shared future.
The Tom Tom Foundation is proud to announce the 14th Annual Tom Tom Festival, taking place April 22–26, 2026, with the theme COURAGE.
In a moment when America approaches the 250th anniversary of its founding, and Charlottesville celebrates the 50th anniversary of the beloved Downtown Mall, the Festival will invite community leaders from across Virginia and beyond to consider the bravery required to take bold action, confront hard truths, celebrate shared progress, and chart a hopeful path forward.
April’s Tom Tom Festival has grown into one of the nation's most vibrant celebrations of civic possibility, convening over 27,000 attendees in 2025. The 14th Annual Festival's music, art, and ideas will invite reflections on COURAGE that surface:
Courageous Stories -- celebrating individuals and organizations who have taken risks, spoken truth, confronted injustice, and acted with integrity, even at great personal cost.
Courageous Conversations -- creating spaces where difference is met with curiosity instead of dismissal, and catalyzing dialogue is possible.
Courageous Expression -- showcasing art and performance that step beyond the boxes of expectation, embrace vulnerability, and inspire authenticity.
“The Tom Tom Festival isn’t just an event—it’s an invitation," commented Paul Beyer, Tom Tom Foundation's Executive Director. "Every April, thousands of people fill the streets, parks, and stages of Charlottesville to celebrate music, art, and ideas. But beneath the celebration lies something deeper: a shared civic experiment in imagining what comes next. This historic moment offers a time for honest conversations, for creativity, for connection—and for communities like Charlottesville to show what it looks like to bridge divides with imagination and hope.”
Over the coming weeks, the Foundation is also eliciting feedback from the community about what Courage means to them and what types of courageous programming they would like to see at the festival.
Launching the 2026 Community Partner Program
As part of the 2026 season, Tom Tom is launching its annual Community Partner Program, inviting local organizations, artists, and entrepreneurs to host events during Festival week. Each year, 50+ events ranging from workshops, talks, performances, art installations, and open houses are added to the Festival schedule (April 22-26) as a means to elevate ongoing work and impact in the community.
“Tom Tom is a platform where everyone in the community can be seen and heard,” Beyer added. “The Community Partner Program is how we ensure that—from grassroots organizers to major institutions—everyone has a seat at the table in shaping our shared story.”
Partners receive promotional support, inclusion in the Festival lineup, and access to collaborative storytelling and cross-sector networking.
The first round of applications will close on November 7.
A Pivotal Year for Tom Tom’s Future
As Tom Tom enters its 14th year, 2026 also marks a pivotal moment of reflection and evolution for the Foundation. Over the coming months, Tom Tom will host public listening gatherings to explore how the Festival can continue to serve as a platform for collaboration and civic imagination.
“It was important for us to bring the Festival back for this historic year,” Beyer said. “But this may be the last year we host Tom Tom in its current format. We’re asking the community to help us imagine what’s next — and take ownership — of the kind of Festival Charlottesville needs for the next decade, and help define the role it plays in shaping our shared future.”
The first Community Interest meetings will occur on:
October 21, 6pm - Tom Tom Offices
October 22, 12pm - Tom Tom Offices
October 28, 6pm - Virtual
November 5 - 10am - Virtual
Founded in 2012, The Tom Tom Foundation is a nonprofit organization based in Charlottesville, VA, dedicated to gathering communities to envision the future. Through creativity, entrepreneurship, and civic innovation, Tom Tom’s annual programs connect leaders and citizens across sectors, backgrounds, and ideologies to imagine and shape the future together.
