About the Fest
2025 Fest dates announced — April 25, 26 2025 — Holiday Inn Express & Guest Suites, Fort Washington, Pennsylvania and via Zoom
The “Winter” SWL Fest is a conference of radio hobbyists of all stripes, from DC to daylight. Historically, every year scores of hobbyists have descended on the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania suburbs for a weekend of camaraderie. The Fest is sponsored by NASWA, the North American Shortwave Association, but it covers much more than just shortwave; mediumwave (AM), scanning, satellite TV, and pirate broadcasting are among the other topics that the Fest covers. Whether you’ve been to every Fest (all 37, starting with the first year at the fabled Pink & Purple Room of the Fiesta Motor Inn) or this year’s will be your first, you’re sure to find a welcome from your fellow hobbyists, even if it’s a “virtual” welcome!.
The 38th Annual (!) “Winter” SWL Fest will have two days of sessions where you can learn about the latest developments in the radio listening hobbies. In addition, there’s the Hospitality Suite, where attendees partake of tuning oil and other treats and engage in spirited conversations. And of course, the infamous midnight ride of Pancho Villa that traditionally closes things out every year is likely to make a return appearance.
The 2025 Fest will be the second in-person event since 2020 and the CoVID-19 Pandemic, and it will again be limited to 65 in-person participants due to meeting space considerations. However, we also offer the option of participating via Zoom, as we have the past three years.
Can’t join us for the whole event? That’s OK — you can come and go as you please. We record each session for later download if you’ve registered either to join us in-person or via Zoom.
We expect to have event and hotel registration information available as of February 1, 2025.
If you have questions please contact the Fest organizers at swlfest [at] naswa [dot] net .
Your hosts, Richard Cuff and John Figliozzi, work throughout the year to ensure that attendees have a great time over the weekend, and by all accounts, they succeed stunningly. How else could this event have lasted for 37 years (egad) — even with a Pandemic — and draw people from around the world to southeastern Pennsylvania? Won’t you join us?