The Hill Country Venture Fest, named the 2025 Texas Venture Fest of the Year by the Texas Venture Alliance, will host its student pitch night on October 1, 2026, at Mason’s historic Odeon Theater. The free, one-evening event invites rural Hill Country students to pitch real business ideas to judges in front of a supportive community.
The choice of venue is central to the festival’s mission. Built in 1928 on Mason’s courthouse square, the Odeon bills itself as the longest continually operating theater in west Texas. It sits within a National Historic Register district and has hosted premieres of films such as Old Yeller and Savage Sam, both adapted from books by Mason native Fred Gipson.
“A local kid’s story once went out to the whole world from that stage,” said Milton Jordan, organizer of the event. “On October 1, our students step onto the same boards and pitch what they want to build. That’s not a metaphor we invented – it’s the history of the room.”
The Odeon is a working theater, showing first-run films four nights a week. A 2019 restoration brought modern seating and sound to the historic house, while its intimate size ensures that every seat feels like the front row. Students will present to a full, close room rather than a half-empty hall.
The Hill Country Venture Fest is free to attend and free to enter. It is co-hosted by townie.ai and SimpleEDO.ai, organized by Katie Milton Jordan since it began as a single-campus event in Kerrville in 2023, and is part of the statewide Texas Venture Fest network. Reservations open through hillcountryventurefest.com and close August 28; because the Odeon is a small house, seats are first come, first served and may fill sooner.
The event underscores the importance of providing rural students with opportunities to showcase their ideas locally, without needing to travel to urban centers. By leveraging the historic Odeon, the festival reinforces its message that the stage is available in their own community.
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