Back during the earlier years of meme culture, festivals that celebrated the internet, like ROFLCon, were fairly common. Towards the end of the 2010s however, conventions centered around memes were seemingly a thing of the past, but that might be changing with the upcoming “Meme in the Moment Festival.”

Put on by Digital Void, a media company focused on understanding digital culture, media and technology, The Meme in the Moment Festival is slated for August 17th in NYC and will host a slew of thought-provoking speakers.

“The Meme in the Moment is a festival of memes with the internet’s most critical, fun, and engaging meme thinkers. We’re bringing together academics, journalists, and speakers to help us understand how memes influence our daily lives, how memes travel from the internet into physical spaces, how we can speak about them in our daily lives, and how we can strengthen our cultural immune response to memes at a moment where memes are central to discourse.”

🎉 We're thrilled to announce: NYC's first festival of memes, live from CaveatNYC</a>! Join us on Tuesday, August 17 at 7:00 PM ET.<br><br>Featuring: <a href="https://twitter.com/broderick?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">broderick, rebexxxxa</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/KalhanR?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">KalhanR, NewandDigital</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/mzfayya?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">mzfayya, jayemsey</a>. Hosted by <a href="https://twitter.com/KleinKleinKlein?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">KleinKleinKlein.

🎟 Ticketshttps://t.co/DdYMYfEfnv

— Digital Void (@digivoidmedia) July 7, 2021

Alongside the growing influence of memes in recent years, from politics to elaborate marketing campaigns, the festival seeks to answer the question, “Are we influencing memes, or are they influencing us?”

Hosted by cultural theorist and journalist Matt Klein, guests speaking at the event include journalist and podcaster Ryan Broderick, Vox internet culture reporter Rebecca Jennings, digital culture expert, writer and educator Dr. Jamie Cohen, NBC internet culture reporter Kalhan Rosenblatt, writer, brand strategist and cultural theorist Jenny Chang, and cultural strategist and researcher Dr. Anastasia Kārkliņa Gabriel.

“From political movements to group chats and GameStop stocks to identifying dangerous, extremist dog whistles, the Meme in the Moment will leave you wondering what memes really mean in the moment, and make you consider how we can become more resilient from discussing them in physical spaces.”

This looks awesome for anyone in NYC on Aug 17th https://t.co/jbtcgm5j8u

— Taylor Lorenz (@TaylorLorenz) July 6, 2021

Anyone interested in checking out the meme-focused festival can find tickets online, which includes an in-person or livestream option.