The next Shindig will take place Tuesday, August 4, 2026, at Whiskey Kitchen in Raleigh, North Carolina. The event, co-hosted by SPESA’s long-standing trade show partner Messe Frankfurt North America, is once again taking place in conjunction with Techtextil North America.

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This event is an opportunity to spend time with familiar faces and make new connections while celebrating the collaborative spirit that drives the sewn products industry forward.

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What’s new about this year’s event? We’ll be featuring a VIP hour, hosted and sponsored by the North Carolina Textile Foundation.

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Tickets are on sale now. And you may want to grab yours soon because the previous Raleigh and Atlanta events both sold out! Click here to register now!

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Interested in sponsoring the 2026 Shindig or have any questions?

Contact Maggie McDonald (maggie@spesa.org).​​

About The Alphabet Soup Collective

SPESA is a founding member of the Alphabet Soup Collective — a collaboration of associations representing the global sewn products, textile, apparel, and nonwovens textiles industries. The collective was launched in 2024 as a means to enhance collaboration and bridge gaps across the supply chain. 

The collective held its first meeting last August during the 2024 edition of Techtextil North America in Raleigh. That meeting was followed by the Inaugural Alphabet Soup Collective Shindig, an over-the-top networking reception which many have claimed to be the “best industry event they’ve ever attended.” Though, to be fair, there was a good amount of whiskey involved.

Since then, the collective has hosted a few more shindigs, including at Texprocess Americas 2025 in Atlanta.

Shindigs are hosted and organized by various collective members.

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Click here to learn more about the Alphabet Soup Collective. Or follow us on LinkedIn for regular updates.

SPESA Events

If you have any questions about SPESA or this event, please feel free to contact Maggie@spesa.org or Marie@spesa.org. 

Click here to see all of SPESA's upcoming events.