There isn’t any sleeping during DreamWeek, but there’s a lot of dreaming. Also talking, listening, looking, laughing, tasting, dancing and experimenting with new people and practices. During DreamWeek 2026, an estimated 100,000 attendees will share their dreams for a better world and their work to make those dreams a reality.
The 13th annual DreamWeek isn’t a week — it’s a 17-day citywide series of events that showcases groups and individuals making a positive difference. It brings people from different races, religions and cultures together to share their dreams. Sort of like Fiesta, but with more speakers, no royals, fewer festivals and less confetti. There is one big parade during DreamWeek, and it’s a lulu — the 39th annual Martin Luther King March, one of the largest MLK marches in the U.S. The march, put on by the city’s Dr. Martin Luther King Commission, is not an official DreamWeek activity. But it was the inspiration for DreamWeek, when marketing and design firm owner Shokare “Sho” Nakpodia took up Mayor Julian Castro’s challenge to create a campaign for the city highlighting the march.
Nigerian-born Nakpodia, who came to San Antonio by way of England and New York, is a deep thinker. He was fascinated by the massive turnout for the MLK march in a city where only six to seven percent of the population is Black. He began to reflect on how some 300,000 San Antonians from diverse backgrounds, cultures and races came together every year in the march to honor Dr. King’s vision of a more just and compassionate America. He began to think about how to bring some of those people together for more than one day, to communicate across cultural divides.
How do we work towards tolerance, justice and equality in practical ways, in our lives, where we live? In 2011, Nakpodia ventured an answer to that question. He founded a group called DreamVoice LLC, and in 2013, with help and participation from community partners, the first DreamWeek, billed as a “citywide summit,” took place. Hundreds of people showed up to hear speakers and panels, participate in workshops, take tours, admire art and share meals. There were 35 events, almost all of them free.
DreamWeek has grown in ways few could imagine. This year’s DreamWeek 2026 will have as many as 250 events, and more than 100,000 guests are expected to attend. There’s also a global audience. DreamWeek events are streamed into dozens of other countries.
During DreamWeek, you’ll witness a beautiful tapestry of diversity. People in hijabs and yarmulkes, saris, dashikis and couture outfits will sit side by side at luncheons, panels and concerts. All sorts of events will take place in venues all around town, from museums to malls and historic neighborhoods to sleek modern complexes. Students in hoodies and businessfolk in bespoke suits will rub shoulders, sharing space and ideas. DreamWeek is a celebration of our differences, a testament to our shared humanity.
“We allow people to adventure and mix a little more, in environments they have never been to through fear or insecurity or lack of education,” Nakpodia said. “A Jewish religious celebration, a Scottish dance, a Nigerian restaurant … during DreamWeek, these places are safe to try. The more people we have out there, willing to engage with those they may disagree with, the more likely there will be a spark that will germinate and change all our lives.”
Each year’s DreamWeek has a different overall theme that is carefully chosen by the DreamVoice team. “We typically sit down and talk about what we learned from the past year, and think about the energy that we want the theme to bring into this year’s summit,” Nakpodia said.
Last year, the theme was Neighbors. “We knew in 2025 we would be coming out of a situation with the elections, where whatever happened, one half of the nation would be in some pain. We wanted to remind people that we don’t have to wear politics on our sleeves — that life goes on, and there are all these ways where we still engage with one another — that we are all still neighbors.”
The theme for DreamWeek 2026 is Revelations!, meant to encourage a deeper understanding of issues that affect our community and to reveal positive acts and initiatives that are often overlooked. This year, Nakpodia said the program will also reveal some historical landmarks that have been generally ignored, and explore buildings and the environment to give people a new perspective on what it is to live in San Antonio.
This year’s events are organized around 12 sub-themes:
The urban cityscape, sports, holistic living, the environment, education, technology and the arts. Also, the spirit of acceptance, civil and human rights, business and lessons from the next generation. And there’s the ever-popular theme of cuisine — sharing world culture through food.
Those themes will be expressed in the DreamHour Speaker Series, DreamPanel discussions, concerts, ethnic markets, fashion shows, garden tours, museum visits, sports events and meals. “If you break bread with someone, or share the same dish, it is much harder to hate,” Nakpodia said. The schedule includes much breaking of bread together, from the kick-off breakfast at the Briscoe Museum of Western Art and an Awards Luncheon at the Witte Museum to the gala Dream Ball.
A Neighborhood Film Series was inaugurated last year, when San Antonians were invited to submit 3-to-6-minute films about their neighborhoods. The top 10 were screened at the Carver Cultural Center, and the top three won cash prizes. The event was such a success that it will be repeated this year.
A brand-new event, DreamStage: Showtime at the Carver!, offers people the opportunity to present 3-to-5-minute performances onstage at the historic theater. The top three will be invited to perform at the Dream Ball.
With so many diverse events, DreamWeek’s schedule may seem daunting at first glance. But the subjects are simple: untapped resources, unsung heroes, untold stories and their potential impact on a future yet unknown.
“We live in a very rapidly changing environment,” Nakpodia said. “Rapid change requires new voices, new prophets, new priests. I think that with Revelations! we hope to reveal what is happening in our city today that can lead to more enlightened ways of living.”
