“Where Wood Meets Wonder – Virginia’s Premier Turning Event”
2026 Virginia Woodturning Symposium Update, August 25, 2026
Cancellation Notice
The twenty members of our board have been dedicated to making this year’s symposium happen for well over a year, but we’ve come to the conclusion that it will not be successful with the amount of interest and projected attendance numbers. At our meeting last night, we voted to cancel the 2026 Symposium. We will immediately refund all registration fees.
We understand the reasons for the low projected attendance. The AAW held their Symposium in Raliegh this year. Everyone is experiencing personal economic pressures, and fuel prices are very high. This has left us with only 92 pre-registered attendees as of August 24th, much less than what we had two years ago. The recent request for clubs to poll their members about interest in attending had only 44 more interested in coming. The 2024 Symposium attendance was a bit over 350, which was light historically, but manageable. We have attempted to generate enthusiasm among Virginia clubs and elsewhere but obviously have not succeeded. With less than 150 attending, demonstrators, vendors and attendees will be dissatisfied. We are very disappointed at this outcome but believe it is in the best interest of all. Virginia Woodturners, Incorporated, will begin planning for hosting the 2028 Virginia Woodturning Symposium. We have no salaries, and few ongoing expenses, and are not dissolving
Sponsored by the Virginia Woodturners, Inc.