The 24th Annual International Folk Alliance Conference is slated for February 16-20, 2011 in Memphis, Tennessee. However, financial savings are in the offing through early-bird registration that is open through Dec. 2, while forms also are available on the Folk Alliance International website (www.folk.org) for performing artists to apply for Performance Alley official showcase opportunities.

Ranked among the five largest music conferences in North America, the International Folk Alliance Conference will feature three days of panel discussions and workshops, peer group meetings, instrument clinics and popular singer-songwriter critique sessions, as well as four nights of artist performances — including 200 juried music showcases and hundreds of private in-room showcases that extend late into the night (or early morning hours, depending on your vantage point). David Bromberg and Mark Olson will be the conference’s keynote speakers, while a special keynote interview with Jac Holzman, on the 60th anniversary of his founding of Elektra Records, also is on the agenda., as are the Annual FAI Lifetime Achievement Awards and Honors and the second annual Sacred Steel Summit. As always, the conference will boast a large exhibit hall with more than 100 exhibitors and plenty of opportunities for networking and jamming. The city of Memphis and its music-related attractions beckon just outside the host hotel’s doors.

Folk Alliance International aims to foster and promote multicultural, traditional and contemporary folk music, while strengthening and advancing organizational and individual initiatives in folk music and dance through education, networking, advocacy, and professional and field development.