The Conference on the Front Porch

The Conference on the Front Porch, the nation’s only gathering focused exclusively on the significance of the front porch in society, has announced 2018 dates, list of speakers, and underwriting sponsors. The Conference started in 2016 with a stated mission of “celebrating the significance of the front porch, both from an architectural as well as a sociological perspective.” The proposed topics conveyed are how, when, and why the front porch scenery began to slip away from the American culture. Event founder Campbell McCool says, “As years have passed, we have found that the front porch lifestyle left a huge impact on the lives of many Americans and we thought, ‘Why not bring that historical feature back? Why not start a conference celebrating the front porch and all that it represents?’”

Keynote speaker will be John Barry, author of the seminal book on the Mississippi River – Rising Tide – which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Additional speakers will include Erin and Ben Napier of HGTV’s Hometown, Wyatt Waters and Robert St. John from MPB’s Palate to Palette, Beth Ann Fennelly, Mississippi’s Poet Laureate, CJ Lotz with Garden & Gun Magazine’s, Mike Stewart, CEO of Wildrose Kennels, and Suzanne Stern, President of Our Town Plans.

Evening activities will include a private concert with Nashville’s Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors, and a one-man porch play featuring HBO’s Johnny McPhail as Big Daddy from Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. 

In addition to the lineup of speakers, concerts, and plays, the Conference, held in the Plein Air neighborhood of Taylor, MS (near Oxford), offers optional afternoon tours of historic Oxford homes and porches, tours of the history archives at Ole Miss, and evening meals in a field accompanied by local musicians and storytellers. Tickets and detailed information at theconferenceonthefrontporch.com