Our flagship event
What to Expect at Freedom Fest 2026
This January 23–25, join a powerful weekend of recovery, connection, and hope. Freedom Fest 2026 isn’t just another event, it’s a three-day celebration of recovery, resilience, and community. Hosted by Never Alone Recovery, this powerful weekend in Charleston brings together individuals in all stages of recovery, their families, allies, and advocates for a shared experience of hope, connection, and transformation.
You’ll walk into a space that feels like home, honest, open, and deeply human, where people share stories that matter and lift each other up.
Freedom Fest: Healing in Community
Mornings That Ground You
Freedom Fest opens each day with powerful talks from people who’ve lived the stories they shared: the rock-bottom moments, the turning points, the courage it took to choose recovery one more time. These sessions feel less like speeches and more like family conversations, honest, vulnerable, and full of the kind of truth that stays with you long after the weekend ends.
Afternoons That Move You
The day unfolds into space made for you: interactive discussions that invite you to participate, panels that remind you you’re not walking this road alone, quiet corners where you can breathe, journal, or reflect, and spontaneous connections that happen when people who understand each other end up in the same room.
Moments That Find You When You Need Them
Throughout the weekend, you’ll stumble into unexpected grace: the conversation at the coffee table that feels like divine timing, the buffer break that turns into a heart-to-heart, the speaker whose story sounds a lot like your own, the music performance that reminds you why you kept going. Freedom Fest is built for real connection, real clarity, and real change.
What you’ll leave with: fresh perspective that shifts how you see yourself, your challenges, and your future, a renewed sense of hope — the kind that strengthens your spirit, not just your mindset, connections that matter, with people who encourage, uplift, and truly get it, tools for the journey, shared from real-life experience, not theory, a deeper sense of belonging, knowing you are seen, valued, and never alone
What you won’t find: rigid programming that leaves you overwhelmed, intimidating environments or “perfect recovery” expectations, performative networking or pressure to present a version of yourself, anything that tells you you’re behind, not enough, or alone in what you’re facing
Save the Date
Freedom Fest 2026
January 23-25, 2026
Charleston, South Carolina
Register today to stay in the loop as Freedom Fest 2026 comes to life! Get early access to registration, special offers, and exciting announcements. Join us January 23–25 in Charleston, South Carolina, for a transformative weekend.
Official Partners
Venue Partners
23-25
January
2026
Embassy Suites by Hilton Charleston Historic District
FRI
Jan 23
5 P.M.
Circular Congregational
Church
SAT & SUN
Jan 24 & 25
8 P.M.
Food & Beverage Partners
If you would like to become a sponsor, please contact Mary Ellen Jensen, Director of Development at: [email protected]
Featured Speakers
Agenda
January 23, 2026
6:00 PM EST
Registration & Refreshments
On-going throughout the evening
7:00 PM EST
Welcome Address
7:00 PM - 7:15 PM
John Hayes Krista Flanders
Chief Executive Officer, Never Alone Recovery The Sober Barbie
7:15 PM EST
Invocation
7:15 PM - 8:00 PM
Brandi Harris
January 24, 2026
10:00 AM EST
Registration
On-going throughout the day
10:15 AM EST
Welcome Address
10:15 AM - 10:30 AM
John Hayes
10:30 AM EST
Powerlessness
10:30 AM - 11:00 AM
Jamie Talluto
11:15 AM EST
Unmanageability
11:15 AM - 11:45 AM
Mike Gliem (Recovery Mike)
12:00 PM EST
Surrender
12:00 PM - 12:30 PM
Joel Anthony
1:30 PM EST
Inventory
1:30 PM - 2:00 PM
Trish Kane
3:00 PM EST
Character (Panel)
3:00 PM - 3:30 PM
Austin Pollard, Reagan Daly & Mike Howe
3:45 PM EST
Overcoming Obstacles
3:45 PM - 4:00 PM
Kyndal Edwards
4:15 PM EST
Musical Performance
4:15 PM - 5:15 PM
Skyler Ray
January 25, 2026
2:00 PM EST
Registration
On-going throughout the afternoon
2:10 PM EST
Welcome Address
2:10 PM - 2:25 PM
John Hayes
2:40 PM EST
Forgiveness
2:40 PM - 2:55 PM
Krista Flanders
3:05 PM EST
Brotherly Love
3:05 PM - 3:20 PM
Skyler Ray
3:30 PM EST
Perseverance
3:30 PM - 3:45 PM
Scarless Madrid
3:55 PM EST
Power of Prayer
3:55 PM - 4:05 PM
Brandi Harris
4:10 PM EST
Outreach (Panel)
4:10 PM - 4:25 PM
Recover Out Loud & Brandi Harris
The Countdown Begins
Let the countdown to hope, healing, and celebration begin. The most empowering weekend of the year is almost here—save your spot and be part of a movement that reminds us we’re never alone.