Three Days of Worship and Community in the Foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains

The Shabbach Youth Conference, founded in 2003 by Pastor Glenn Walters, returns to the LeConte Center in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, February 6 through 8, 2026, with registration opening February 6 at 3 PM, delivering a weekend of worship-led ministry, keynote speakers, and youth-oriented community programming for students and young adults from across the country.

Event details

The Shabbach Youth Conference returns to the LeConte Center at 2986 Teaster Lane in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, February 6 through 8, 2026, gathering young people, youth groups, and families from across the country for a weekend of worship, ministry, and community organized around evangelical Christian faith. The conference was founded in 2003 by Pastor Glenn Walters and his wife Emily and has grown over more than two decades into one of the most recognized youth ministry gatherings in the Southeast, drawing both repeat attendees who have grown up with the event and first-time visitors encountering it through their church communities. Registration opens on the first day, Friday February 6, at 3 PM at the LeConte Center.

Programming Across Three Days

The Shabbach weekend is structured around worship sessions, ministry presentations, and keynote preaching, with each day carrying a full schedule of programming designed for student and young adult audiences. Past Shabbach conferences have featured worship leader and recording artist Eddie James and Eddie James Ministries as one of the conference’s most consistent and influential presences, alongside pastors and speakers whose work spans both local church ministry and national youth outreach platforms. The conference prioritizes an atmosphere described by its organizers as both spiritually intensive and accessible, with programming that recognizes the range of faith backgrounds and levels of engagement that a large youth-oriented gathering invariably draws. Interactive sessions, youth group activities, and structured community time complement the main-stage programming across all three days.

Good to Know: The LeConte Center at Pigeon Forge is one of the largest convention facilities in the Tennessee Smoky Mountains region, providing the physical infrastructure for a conference of this scale without requiring attendees to navigate a complex multi-venue situation. The Parkway corridor surrounding the LeConte Center in Pigeon Forge carries the full-service resort amenities that make Pigeon Forge a year-round family destination, including dining, retail, and the proximity of Great Smoky Mountains National Park to the east.

Pigeon Forge and the Smoky Mountain Context

Pigeon Forge in February is meaningfully quieter than its summer and fall peak, which serves a conference weekend well. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park begins just minutes east of the LeConte Center, and in February the park’s lower trails, particularly the Middle Prong trail system in the Tremont area and the Sugarlands Valley Nature Trail, are accessible without the summer crowd conditions that make some trail corridors feel more like pedestrian queuing than outdoor recreation. For conference attendees extending the trip into a full family weekend before or after the Saturday and Sunday sessions, Pigeon Forge and the neighboring community of Gatlinburg anchor a mountain destination with year-round visitor infrastructure. Lake.com lists cabin and vacation rental options throughout the Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg corridor for families wanting self-contained accommodations with kitchen access and proximity to both the LeConte Center and the national park entrance.