NEON SPEAKS FESTIVAL & SYMPOSIUM 2025
Register to watch all recorded events on demand!
Neon Speaks 2025 is produced by SF Neon in proud partnership with Roxie Theater, Letterform Archive, Neon Works, and the Tenderloin Museum. Hosts: Al Barna and Randall Ann Homan of SF Neon.
2025 Schedule:
Download a Print-at-Home Schedule for Neon Speaks 2025
2025 Events
Day 1, Saturday September 6
Online Neon Symposium. Join us on Zoom for a day of neon preservation, world records, pop culture, and book talks.
The American Sign Museum book team gives us a sneak preview of the new book about this spectacular sign museum in Cincinnati: Tod Swormstedt, Kathy Kikkert, Erin Holland, Sam Roberts, and Natalie Grilli,.
Neon Pub Quiz. Join us on your lunch break and test your neon knowledge with neon quiz experts. Find out what the buzz is all about. With Paul Greenstein, Kathy Kikkert, Eric Lynxwiler, Todd Matuszewicz, Debra Jane Seltzer, and Stephen Spiegel.
Neon and the Guinness World Records book with Dydia DeLyser and a panel of neon world-record holders for 2025: Corrie Siegel (Museum of Neon Art, oldest neon museum) Nick Maylon (largest spherical neon sculpture) Wayne Strattman (largest plasma sculpture).. This is the first year that neon has been included in the Guinness World Records book!
Dean Blazek: Follow the Signs, a new book about the sign journey of Dean Blazek, the world’s oldest neon glass bender. Dean is known for his neon school in Antigo, WI and will present with his son Michael Blazek, author and neon artist from Brisbane, Australia.
Nevada Neon Museum with Will Durham of Reno. Will shares his vision to create a new museum with his vast collection of Reno’s best neon signs in a public space in downtown Reno. You could be a charter member, tune in!
Day 2, Sunday September 7
Oakland Neon Works Shop Tour. A rare opportunity to see a working neon shop in action with live fires and tube-bending demo with Adam Taylor. Don’t miss Jim Rizzo’s fine collection of restored vintage signs and sign boneyard. Al and Randall will be in the neon boneyard to give histories of this collection of rescued Bay Area neon. Back by popular demand, photography encouraged. SOLD OUT
Alameda Neon Walking Tour. Take a twilight walking tour and see the beautiful neon signs in the historic city of Alameda, CA with local historian Devi L. Dahl. Space is limited to 12 people. Register early! This tour is a favorite annual event of Neon Speaks. This 1-hour tour starts at 7:00 pm on Sunday, September 7, 2025. SOLD OUT
Day 3, Saturday, September 13
Letterform Archive Tour for Neon Speaks. This is a special guided tour for the Neon Speaks festival at the Letterform Archive with associate curator, Stephen Coles. You’ll get hands-on access to original works and books on signs and lettering from this one-of-a-kind collection. New this year is an unveiling of a major archive of beautiful painted sign artwork by Wonderlite, a creative San Francisco neon sign company active in the 1920s–60s. Tours limited to 15 people, photography encouraged. SOLD OUT
VIP Reception and SF Lost Neon Landscapes: A Special Screening at the Roxie Theater, SF. Hosted by Al and Randall, this is a program of San Francisco-centric neon shorts, home movie clips, and “hot of the scanner” found footage of the city’s lost neon landscape, all compiled and edited by Megan Prelinger of the Prelinger Archive!. VIP reception and preservation panel discussion at 518 Valencia, around the corner from the Roxie Theater. After the VIP reception, take the back-alley entrance to the SF Lost Neon Landscapes screening at the “Big” Roxie Theater. SOLD OUT
Day 4, Sunday, September 14
Neon Symposium and Curiosity Lounge at the beautiful and historic Verdi Club ballroom, SF. This is the main festival event, featuring symposium presentations, neon art, artifacts, and an entertaining neon quiz by champions of neon signs far and wide. Doors open at 2:30 pm for the Neon Curiosity Lounge exhibits by artists. Come early for light fare and beverages.
Register for these bonus presentations on Zoom:
Lettering vs. Fonts with Stephen Coles, Letterform Archive, San Francisco
What is the difference between fonts and lettering created by a designers and sign painters for a neon sign that still exists 80 years later? Stephen sheds light on the qualities of vintage sign letterforms.
Art vs. Actual with Heather David, CalMod Books, San Jose
Commercial signs are storytellers. The story can be quite literal… like “This sign was used to advertise this business.” Or this sign, based on its design, theme, and/or lettering style, dates to this particular time in history. Sometimes, however, the stories aren’t quite as obvious. For the past 10+ years, Heather has been collecting brilliantly executed concept illustrations that became iconic neon spectacular signage in Las Vegas and other cities. It’s not often that you get to see the two images side-by-side so to see the “ART vs the ACTUAL.”
The Great American Retro Roadtrip with Rolando Pujol, Retrologist, New York City
Rolando is the author of The Great American Retro Road Trip, a coast-to-coast journey chronicling retro roadside America. Take an illustrated trip to discover iconic signage like the Moon Motel sign or little-known neon storefronts like Hildebrandt’s Ice Cream. Rolando’s book talk is a sweeping sense of roadside charm that still exists, the signs tell a story of American ingenuity, creativity, and community.
Let There Be Neon with Jeff Friedman and Dave Waller, New York City/Boston
Let There Be Neon studio in Manhattan was the brainchild of light artist Rudi Stern. Jeff Friedman became LTBN’s president and sole owner when Stern left to make documentary films. This year, LTBN moved to Brooklyn under the guidance of enthusiastic new owner Dave Waller. The LTBN neon studio has a huge legacy of bringing neon as art into the public consciousness.
Neon Curiosity Lounge Artists
- Will Durham
- Paul Greenstein
- Karen Heisler
- Jordan Kirschen
- Ames Palms
- Shawna Peterson
- Bruce Suba
- Adam Taylor
Neon Quiz Experts
- Paul Greenstein, Los Angeles
- Eric Lynxwiler, Los Angeles
- Kathy Kikkert, Los Angeles
- Todd Matuszewicz, Denver
- Corky Scholl, Denver
- Debra Jane Seltzer, Ventura
- Steve Spiegel, Los Angeles
2025 Credits
Talented Participants 2025
- Dean Blazek Antigo, WI and Michael Blazek, Brisbane, AU
- Stephen Coles, Letterform Archive, San Francisco
- Katie Conry, Tenderlion Museum
- Devi L. Dahl, Alameda Neon Tour, Alameda
- Heather David, Cal Mod Books, San Jose
- Will Durham, Nevada Neon Project, Reno
- Dydia DeLyser and Paul Greenstein, Neon: A Light History, Los Angeles
- Jeff Friedman and Dave Waller, Let There Be Neon New York
- Eric Lynxwiler, Museum of Neon Art, Los Angeles
- Todd Matuszewicz, Denver
- Ames Palms, Rebel Neon, San Francisco
- Shawna Peterson, Peterson Neon, SF Bay Area
- Rolando Pujol, The Great American Retro Roadtrip, NYC
- Katherine J. Rinehart, Petaluma Signs Project
- Jim Rizzo, Neon Works, Oakland
- Corky Scholl, Save the Signs, Denver
- Corrie Siegel, Museum of Neon Art (MONA)
- Steven Spiegel, Signs United, Los Angeles
- Bruce Suba and Jordan Kirschen, Suba Neon, Santa Cruz
- Adam Taylor, Neon Works, Oakland
- American Sign Museum book team: Founder Tod Swormstedt, and Kathy Kikkert, Erin Holland, Sam Roberts, Natalie Grilli,
Staff Box
Neon Speaks Festival Hosts and Producers
Al Barna and Randall Ann Homan of San Francisco Neon.
In proud partnership with Lex Sloan of the Roxie Theater and our fiscal sponsor the Tenderloin Museum. Thanks to the entire staff of the Tenderloin Museum, particularly Katie Conry and Alex Spoto.
Production Team
A round of applause for our ace production team:
SHOW RUNNER: Allen Sawyer
VIDEO ARCHIVING: Evatt Carrodus
COPY WRITING: Yareli Arreola
Advisors
A million thanks to this year’s wise advisors: Stephen Coles, Dydia DeLyser, Kathy Kikkert, Shawna Peterson, Allen Sawyer, Steve Spiegel, Jim Van Buskirk, and Kate Widdows.
Star Motel, San Francisco. Photo: Al Barna