Thousands of guests will flood Plant City over the course of the next five weeks as the Assembly Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses on Frontage Road prepares for a massive convention.
Plant City is joining in the global conventions spanning six continents and more than 200 countries. The global convention, titled “Love Never Fails,” will be presented worldwide in more than 400 languages, four of which will be highlighted at the local hall.
Daniel Fisher, the Jehovah’s Witnesses media coordinator for the Plant City venue, estimates more than 5,500 people will be in attendance over the course of the five weekend conventions with the potential of up to 1,300 coming in every weekend.
“We have a three-day convention every year,” Fisher said. “This year’s theme is “Love Never Fails.” We always have a scripturally-based theme and the brothers responsible for the convention, including all of the talks and agenda items, pick a theme that’s appropriate for the time. Unfortunately, in the time we live in now, this seems like an appropriate theme. More than 14 million people across the world are going to hear a cohesive message that so much more can be accomplished with love than by some of the other approaches we see in the world. There’s so much forcefulness, but we try to return to the Bible whenever possible and, of course, the overriding Christian principle is love.”
The convention has already kicked off, and in Houston alone the assembly averaged approximately 50,000 attendees a day. The Tampa convention for English and Spanish speakers will be held at the fairgrounds for five weekends: three in English, two in Spanish.
Fisher said it’s always been important that the convention be held in the native tongues of many Jehovah’s Witnesses throughout the world. In Plant City, the message will be held in Haitian Creole for two weeks, American Sign Language for one week, Portuguese for one week and Tagalog for another.
People are traveling from as far west as Texas, throughout all of the Gulf states and all the way up to North Carolina. Fisher said the assembly hall in Plant City is absolutely stunning and when folks realize they have an opportunity to attend an event in town, they’re always quick to sign up.
“Plant City is not only a beautiful venue, it’s also such a nice town,” Fisher said. “Everyone here is so friendly and we love showing off the community whenever people come to town.”
Between the abundance of hotel rooms being booked for three or more nights, restaurant visits and shopping, he expects the nearly 6,000 total attendees will bring an estimated $450,000 to $500,000 in revenue for local merchants.
Dates for “Love Never Fails”
Convention in Plant City
July 19 to 21 — Haitian Creole
July 26 to 28 — Haitian Creole
August 2 to 4 — American Sign Language (ASL)
August 9 to 11 — Portuguese
August 16 to 18 —Tagalog