Our 2027 Theme: NEXTGEN
Innovating What Comes Next
Tom Tom has always been a festival about the future — but in 2027, the future feels especially close.
New technologies are changing how we work, learn, create, and connect. We all are witnessing seismic shifts in business, science, health, education, and civic life. And a new generation is coming of age in a world that feels full of possibility, but also profound uncertainty.
So this year, we’re asking the question: Are we ready?
NEXTGEN is about what comes next: the ideas, technologies, leaders, and institutions that will shape the years ahead. And at the 15th Annual Tom Tom Festival, we’ll gather in the public square amidst culture and community, to foster the relationships that will empower that future.
NEXTGEN is a theme about innovation, at a time when innovation is unfolding at breakneck speed. In tech and business circles, “next gen” often signifies major advances -- better, faster, stronger -- that leapfrog current standards. When extraordinary momentum exists across so many sectors, let's take a front-row seat to the possible.
NEXTGEN is also a theme about people -- quite literally the next generation of civic leaders, artists, entrepreneurs, scientists, students, and builders of tomorrow. They are already shaping the world around us and our work is to connect generations with opportunity, mentorship, and hope.
Because alongside all the possibility are real perils; existential risks that populate headlines, and societal challenges without obvious remedies. As our youth navigate digital disruption, social fragmentation, economic pressures, and deep questions of belonging and purpose, their experience may be a signal for something much larger: a society searching for new pathways forward.
Charlottesville is a particularly powerful place --- and Tom Tom Festival is a potent platform — to have this conversation. The global meets the hyper-local. The visionary is anchored in the everyday reality. A major research university sits alongside entrepreneurs, artists, civic leaders, students, tradespeople, technologists, in deeply rooted neighborhoods. Breakthroughs in AI, health, science, and business unfold alongside urgent questions about housing, education, opportunity, community, and belonging. It's a community large enough to contain many of the forces reshaping America, and small enough to bring the people navigating them into the same room.
Ultimately, NEXTGEN is not simply about adapting to forces beyond us, but becoming active participants in what we become. That has always been the Tom Tom invitation.
This April 21–25, 2027, join us at the Tom Tom Festival for five days of music, art, ideas, and conversation — exploring the future of ideas and community.
Some NEXTGEN lenses
As we build out our five days of programming, including the return of the Innovation Summit and the Civic Futures Summit, our extensive Community Partner Program, or the massive celebration of the Downtown Mall Block Party, these are some of the conversations we are hoping to spark:
NextGen Tech: The frontiers of AI, science, health, entrepreneurship, and human-centered innovation are moving fast. As the Innovation Summit continues to grow as a major convening for Virginia and beyond, we will ask: How do we harness emerging technologies not only for growth, but for human flourishing?
NextGen Leaders: Young people, emerging voices, and rising changemakers are already shaping schools, culture, business, and civic life. NextGen Leaders explores how we create the conditions for belonging, agency, and mentorship across generations.
NextGen Cities: The future is not just something we imagine — it is something we build in the places we call home. NextGen Cities asks how technology, design, and civic imagination can help communities become more connected, inclusive, and alive.
Help Shape NEXTGEN
Tom Tom Festival is a co-created event - we work with community members, organizations, and businesses to create a festival that celebrates our community and imagines what comes next, together.
Community Interest Meetings
Share your vision for NEXTGEN.
Community Partner Program
Bring your event to Tom Tom!
Sponsor
Make an impact in this community, and also reach key audiences.
Conference Creator
Co-create the Civic Futures and Innovation Summits.
Applications open in September.
Volunteer or Join the Team
Lend a hand at Tom Tom 2027!
Perform
Share your talents!
About Tom Tom Foundation
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 innovation, Tom Tom’s annual programs connect leaders and citizens across sectors, backgrounds, and ideologies to shape the future together.
