The United States Pirate Party will host its annual Pirate National Conference early next summer in Mobile, Alabama, following a close vote of its national committee over the weekend.
The Pirate National Committee selected Mobile during its weekly meeting this past Sunday, choosing the city over Baltimore, Maryland, by a 4–3 vote. National committee representatives from the Arizona, Florida, Illinois, and Ohio state affiliates backed Mobile over those from Maryland, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania, who instead supported Baltimore. Indiana, which also has representation on the PNC, did not participate in the vote.
The two cities, in addition to Tucson, Arizona, previously emerged as the leading sites to host the conference, with the party soliciting convention proposals from members active on its Discord in the months leading up to the meeting.
Tucson, which was initially proposed by Arizona Pirate Party Captain Blase Henry, withdrew from consideration during Sunday night’s meeting, with Henry saying organizers would prefer to insteead pursue the venue for the party’s 2028 national conference and use the additional year to prepare. Vicksburg, Mississippi was also previously floated; however, the site was rescinded with the hopes of it instead being used for the party’s 2031 conference.
In making their case, supporters of Mobile pointed to the city’s lower travel and lodging costs, along with nearby attractions including the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park. Members also discussed the potential for greater visibility and local media attention by holding the gathering in a smaller Southern city versus elsewhere. Supporters of Baltimore, meanwhile, argued for the city’s transportation network and population density, as well as attractions along the Inner Harbor.
At one point during the meeting, national committee members also considered selecting host cities for 2028 and 2029, with Wanda Ward of the Florida affiliate proposing a motion to decide all three years at once by voice vote. However, she later withdrew the proposal following objections from other members that future national committees and newly organize affiliates should be allowed to retain the opportunity to compete for hosting rights.
The Pirate Party has moved its national conference between different parts of the country since first returning to an in-person format in 2024. That year, the party held “Steal This Conference” at the Bensenville Public Library in Bensenville, Illinois, with the event serving as its first in-person national conference in more than a decade.
The party followed that up with a hybrid gathering in San Francisco in 2025 under the theme “Run for Something!” It most recently met in Boston this June for a two-day conference celebrating the party’s twentieth anniversary.
The committee also selected a tentative date for the conference, setting June 5 as the main date for the 2027 conference, with related activities expected to take place from June 4 through June 7.
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