2026 Perspectives on Contemporary Legend

A detailed schedule for the conference will be released in early May, but here is an outline for your planning purposes. Paper presentations will be all day on June 1, 2, 4 & 5 (roughly from 8:30 to 5:00 at the Hilton Hotel in downtown Lexington).

Paper presentations will be all day on June 1, 2, 4 & 5 (roughly from 8:30 to 5:00 at the Hilton Hotel in downtown Lexington. Reserve a room at this link before May 1, 2026 for conference rate of $149/night (+tax); the conference rate begins on May 31 and runs through June 5. That rate includes free parking in the hotel garage. The Hilton also offers a complimentary shuttle from Lexington’s Bluegrass Airport for hotel guests.

Important note: The hotel has limited rooms on Friday night, because of the Railbird Music Festival that weekend. If you are staying Friday, we recommend booking early and/or sharing a room (at least for that night). There are two hotels a 5-minute walk of the Hilton that may be options (the Hyatt and 21C) as well as many other hotels in the city. For conference attendees not staying at the hotel, there will be discounted daily parking in the Hilton garage.

Lexington is served by Bluegrass Airport and is roughly an hour (by car) from Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport and Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport. Flights can sometimes be cheaper flying into those locations. You can find out about things to do and places to eat in Lexington at www.visitlex.com. We’ll provide a list of our favorite restaurants and bars for attendees as well.

If you are arriving early Sunday, check out the Lexington Legends minor league baseball game at 2. The stadium is a 5-minute drive from the hotel. Sadly, the Legends will be on the road the rest of the week, so we can’t organize a group outing for us.

On Monday June 1, we’ll end sessions a bit earlier to visit the historic Transylvania University with stops at the tomb of legendary biologist Professor Rafinesque (who cursed the university after being fired and is said to haunt the campus) and the university archive.

On Tuesday, June 2, the Folkwise team (who is providing much appreciated tech support for the conference this year) will host their weekly show live (beginning at 7 p.m.) from ISCLR at the hotel conference room.

On Wednesday June 3, we will have our daylong excursion. We will begin our morning in Lexington with a visit to the historic Keeneland racetrack for breakfast at the track kitchen (breakfast averages $7-$10 and is not included in the registration fee). We will then have a bourbon experience in the state capital, Frankfort. Attendees will also have free time to explore Frankfort, including Capital City Museum, Clark Center for Kentucky History, Rebecca Ruth Candy, the historic downtown shops, have lunch at local cafes (not included in the registration fee), or visit some legendary sites, including the Old State Capital and the Frankfort Cemetery (with info about local stories provided by our very own Eleanor Hasken-Wagner). After lunch, we’ll head to Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill for a tour, followed by time to explore the village. The day will end with our conference banquet at the Trustees Table at Shaker Village. After the banquet, there will be music by a bluegrass duo (from 7-9 p.m.) and an optional Spirit Stroll tour (from 7-8 p.m.) for those who want to learn about the ghost legends of Pleasant Hill. Transportation to the excursion locations, the banquet and all Shaker Village and bourbon tours are included in the conference registration fee.