Big Towns

Big Towns Big Towns is a summit in Lafayette, Louisiana, for places too big to be small towns and too small to be big cities. Where mid-sized cities find ideas that fit.

Big Towns is a national platform for bold, collaborative cities ready to lead. Across America, mid-sized cities are quietly redefining what progress looks like. They’re building communities one project, one neighborhood and one conversation at a time. This is where mayors, planners and civic leaders come together to share what actually works — real-world ideas that strengthen economies and neighb

orhoods while building civic trust. Each spring, that spirit converges in Lafayette, Louisiana, a city that embodies what Big Towns stands for: creativity, collaboration and culture that brings people together. Big Towns isn’t a conference you attend, it’s a movement you join. Mid-sized cities are the proving grounds for the nation’s next big ideas in housing, workforce, culture and community identity. Big Towns is here to amplify innovation, leadership and progress from cities that are big enough to matter, small enough to care and built to last. Who We Serve: Mayors, city managers and planners; Economic development and chamber leaders; Nonprofits and foundations; Journalists and media organizations; Business, education and healthcare leaders; Cultural and arts organizations. Big Towns 2026 takes place April 22–23, 2026 in Lafayette, Louisiana.

On behalf of co-hosts The Current and United Way of Acadiana, we want to thank each and every one of our sponsors, from ...
04/21/2026

On behalf of co-hosts The Current and United Way of Acadiana, we want to thank each and every one of our sponsors, from Skyline to Neighborhood. These are the organizations betting on mid-sized cities, on civic innovation and on Lafayette as proof that it works. Thank you. We'll see you tomorrow!

Your zip code shouldn't determine your lifespan. But, too often, it does. In their Big Towns "Food as Medicine" session,...
04/20/2026

Your zip code shouldn't determine your lifespan. But, too often, it does. In their Big Towns "Food as Medicine" session, AJ Fossel and Kesha Tran are digging into:
• Nonprofit grocery stores
• Food access tied to healthcare
• Real, measurable health outcomes

This isn’t theory. These are models already working in cities like yours.

If you’re in health, planning or community development, this conversation matters. Get your ticket and join the conversation at bigtowns.org/tickets.

Big Towns is built neighborhood by neighborhood. And so is every great mid-sized city.Thank you to our Neighborhood Spon...
04/18/2026

Big Towns is built neighborhood by neighborhood. And so is every great mid-sized city.

Thank you to our Neighborhood Sponsors for showing up for this community: Techneaux Technology Services, Taylor Davis, First Horizon Bank, Lafayette Public Trust Financing Authority, Maraist Family Foundation and One Acadiana.

Four days to go. See you April 22: bigtowns.org

The best connections at Big Towns do not happen in session rooms. They happen in the spaces between.Thank you to our Pub...
04/17/2026

The best connections at Big Towns do not happen in session rooms. They happen in the spaces between.

Thank you to our Public Space Sponsors for bringing those spaces to life: William C. Schumacher Family Foundation, Ochsner Lafayette General, Louisiana Blue, Next City, Lafayette, Louisiana, Knight Foundation and Downtown Lafayette.

Five days out. April 22-23 in Lafayette. Learn more at bigtowns.org.

This is the hardest topic at Big Towns. And probably the most important.Ken Brown of Peer Initiative is bringing his ses...
04/17/2026

This is the hardest topic at Big Towns. And probably the most important.

Ken Brown of Peer Initiative is bringing his session “How Strengthening Community Strengthens Mental Health: A Case Study with Peer Initiative” to Big Towns.

The Hardest Conversation: Ken Brown of Peer Initiative is on the front lines of teen su***de prevention, sharing scalable, student-led models that empower young people to save lives in towns just like yours. It's about moving from awareness to actual peer-to-peer action.

Join us at bigtowns.org/tickets.

The Dine Around is where Big Towns gets personal. New cities, new people and new ideas over a shared table.Thank you to ...
04/16/2026

The Dine Around is where Big Towns gets personal. New cities, new people and new ideas over a shared table.

Thank you to our Dine Around Sponsors for making that experience possible: Lafayette Economic Development Authority LEDA, CSRS, a Westwood company, and Acadiana Center for the Arts. You help us show our guests what Lafayette is made of.

Join us April 22-23: bigtowns.org

David McCullough III’s American Exchange Project is rethinking how we rebuild connection in this country—by getting youn...
04/16/2026

David McCullough III’s American Exchange Project is rethinking how we rebuild connection in this country—by getting young people out of their own bubbles and into communities different from their own.

It’s simple. It’s uncomfortable. It works.

At Big Towns, you’ll hear how this first-of-its-kind domestic exchange program is helping mend our social fabric in ways towns can’t achieve alone. Some ideas are bigger than infrastructure.

Be in the room: bigtowns.org/tickets

Big Towns 2026 is one week away. And none of it happens without the people who believe in this work first.Thank you to o...
04/15/2026

Big Towns 2026 is one week away. And none of it happens without the people who believe in this work first.

Thank you to our Skyline Sponsors: City Club at River Ranch, Lenfest Institute for Journalism and LFT Fiber. Your investment powers the conversations that help mid-sized cities grow, connect and lead.

See you April 22-23 in Lafayette: bigtowns.org

Culture is more than just "vibes": Marcella Simien and Elizabeth Cawein know artists are community anchors. In mid-sized...
04/15/2026

Culture is more than just "vibes": Marcella Simien and Elizabeth Cawein know artists are community anchors. In mid-sized cities, creatives are the economic glue, but they're often the first to be priced out. At Big Towns, we’ll talk about the practical side of keeping your city’s soul intact and your music economy growing while developers are knocking.

Get your ticket at bigtowns.org/tickets and join us in Lafayette on April 22-23, 2026.

What if your city could hear from 4,000 residents at once?In Bowling Green, they did.Sangita Shresthova, Ph.D., and Sam ...
04/14/2026

What if your city could hear from 4,000 residents at once?

In Bowling Green, they did.

Sangita Shresthova, Ph.D., and Sam Ford of InnoEngine used AI to turn thousands of community voices into a real, usable vision for the future.

At Big Towns, in their session “What Could Big Towns Be?,” you’ll get the blueprint:
How to scale listening without losing the human part.

If you’re tired of guessing what your community wants, this is worth your time. Get your ticket and join the conversation at bigtowns.org/tickets.

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Lafayette, LA

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