We are delighted to share with you more details of the 2026 GALA conference: The Liberal Arts in Action: Catalysts for Change, 13–15 October 2026 in Nairobi, Kenya. 

The conference will take place on the main Langata campus of the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) (map). For in-person attendees, this is a 20-minute taxi ride from the international airport — CUEA can arrange for airport transfers (for 2500KSH to be paid in cash). The campus is about 20 minutes by taxi or Uber from downtown Nairobi. 

We are pleased to confirm that there will be no conference fee for members from GALA partner universities. For members from non-GALA partner universities and organisations, there will be a 10,000KSH fee to cover catering and administrative costs (this includes the GALA conference dinner). This fee applies only to in-person attendees. 

The conference itself will begin on the afternoon of Tuesday 13 October with a plenary event (live-streamed) and a drinks reception for in-person attendees. The conference panels are scheduled for Wednesday 14 October and Thursday 15 October, and you can see a draft programme here. The panels will include presentations from online speakers and we are aiming to livestream the plenary lectures and panel presentations. 

The GALA conference dinner for all conference attendees will take place on Wednesday evening. 

The conference hotel is the Radix Hotel, On Lang’ata Road, Opposite The Well Karen Mall, which a short walk from the CUEA campus. ACTION: Delegates should book their accommodation directly, quoting ‘Nyanchoga GALA Conference Booking’. Standard bed-and-breakfast is $55 per night. Website: https://www.theradixhotel.co.ke/ 

If you are an Early Career Researcher attending the Writing Workshop 10–13 October, your accommodation for both the workshop and conference along with  catering will be covered by Wits University. We will book your accommodation for you. We will also book the accommodation for the facilitators. We will shortly be contacting both the Early Career Researchers and Facilitators to confirm the arrangements. 

Friday 16 October is available as an optional sightseeing day. CUEA recommends either booking a tour of the Nairobi National Park or visiting downtown Nairobi’s City Market and shops. CUEA will be able to provide more information. 

ACTION: We ask that all speakers complete the full conference registration form at Register for 2026 GALA conference – Fill in form 

ACTION: If you wish us to supply a letter of invitation for visa/entry purposes, please complete this form: Letter of Invitation for the GALA Conference 2026 – Fill in form. We know that some of you have already submitted some information for us; however, we’ve been advised that immigration officers will expect more information — apologies for the extra work. 

If you have any questions about any of this, please contact the GALA team at gala@bathspa.ac.uk 

We look forward to welcoming you to Nairobi in October