PACK EXPO is PMMI’s family of packaging and processing trade shows, and the Las Vegas edition alternates years with PACK EXPO International in Chicago. PACK EXPO Las Vegas 2027 runs September 27-29, 2027, at the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC). Booth space costs $34.25 per square foot at the non-member rate, and that price includes drayage (moving your freight from the loading dock to your booth) as long as your shipment checks in at the LVCC by 2:00 pm on its assigned target move-in date. Booths under 600 sq. ft. are limited to 12′ in height and can’t use hanging signs, and all display material and machinery must sit at least 1′ back from the aisles.
Many PACK EXPO exhibitors bring equipment, so a good booth plan starts with the machine. That means answering a few questions early: how the machine reaches the floor inside the drayage window, how much height and floor space the rules allow, which utilities the demo needs, and whether someone walking the aisle can tell what it does. At Xibit Solutions, we’ve designed, built and installed booths from our North Las Vegas facility for 20+ years, including booths for Las Vegas shows such as CES and SEMA. Those projects go most smoothly when these questions are settled before design starts.
PACK EXPO Las Vegas 2027 at a glance
- Dates: Monday, September 27 through Wednesday, September 29, 2027
- Show hours: 9:00 am to 5:00 pm Monday and Tuesday, 9:00 am to 3:00 pm Wednesday
- Venue: Las Vegas Convention Center, 3150 Paradise Road, Las Vegas, NV 89109
- Exhibit halls: West, North, Central and South Lower
- Organizer: PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies
- Official service contractor: PACK EXPO Services
- Attendee registration: Opens April 2027, at $30 through September 12, 2027, then $130
You can confirm the dates and halls on the PACK EXPO Las Vegas show information page.
The 2025 edition drew more than 30,000 attendees and 2,300+ exhibitors to a record 1 million net sq. ft., according to PMMI’s post-show results. It was the largest floor since the show began 30 years ago. Attendance came in slightly below the roughly 32,000 PMMI reported for 2023, though. With about the same number of exhibitors and fewer buyers, pre-show promotion and a booth that’s easy to understand from the aisle matter more.
Who attends the Las Vegas show
PMMI’s Who Attends page reports that 73% of PACK EXPO Las Vegas attendees have significant or final buying power, and 53% are first-time visitors. Job roles span executive leadership, operations and plant management, engineering, packaging and processing management, supply chain, quality and procurement. More than half of attendees come from food and beverage companies, according to PMMI’s FAQ.
Company size varies widely. The Who Attends page also shows that about 36% of attendees work at companies with under $10 million in annual revenue, and 19% work at companies with more than $1 billion. PMMI also says 74% of Las Vegas attendees don’t attend any other PACK EXPO show, so Las Vegas reaches a different set of buyers than International does in Chicago.
The range of attendees means one booth has to serve two kinds of visitors. A first-time visitor from a small food producer needs to understand what your machine does in a few seconds. An engineer from a large manufacturer wants to talk about throughput, changeover and integration. PMMI’s show homepage says 91% of attendees come to see new packaging solutions and 57% come to see new types of processing machinery.
Not every exhibitor brings a machine. Materials, containers, software, logistics and services companies exhibit too, and the 2027 floor has pavilions for several of those groups. The advice on designing around equipment still applies to them, with products or samples in place of the machine. If this is your company’s first large show, our guide for first-time exhibitors covers the basics before you get into PACK EXPO’s specific rules.
How the PACK EXPO shows compare
PMMI runs four PACK EXPO shows in the U.S. Las Vegas and International alternate years, and the two regional shows, Southeast and East, fill in the calendar.
| Show | City and venue | Cycle | Next dates | Latest reported scale |
| PACK EXPO Las Vegas | Las Vegas Convention Center | Odd years | September 27-29, 2027 | 2025: 30,000+ attendees, 2,300+ exhibitors, 1 million net sq. ft. |
| PACK EXPO International | McCormick Place, Chicago | Even years | October 18-21, 2026 (2028 dates not yet announced) | 2024: 48,000 attendees, 2,700 exhibitors, 1.32 million net sq. ft. |
| PACK EXPO Southeast | Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta | Odd years (debuted 2025) | April 12-14, 2027 | 2025: 6,700+ attendees, 504 exhibitors, 115,000 net sq. ft. |
| PACK EXPO East | Pennsylvania Convention Center, Philadelphia | Even years | March 2028 | 2026: 7,300+ attendees, 500 exhibitors, 125,000 net sq. ft. |
Sources: PMMI results for International 2024, Southeast 2025 and East 2026, with East’s exhibitor and floor figures from PMMI’s opening-day release. All figures are PMMI’s organizer-reported numbers.
PMMI describes International as the most comprehensive packaging and processing trade show in North America on its show overview page. Las Vegas is the second-largest show in the family, with more than eight times the floor space of Southeast. If you’re moving up from a regional show, plan for your freight, labor and staffing needs to grow along with the booth.
According to PMMI’s FAQ, each PACK EXPO show keeps its own priority point standing for space selection. Skipping International or a regional show doesn’t affect your Las Vegas standing, and your Las Vegas points don’t carry over to the other shows.
How to book booth space for 2027
According to PMMI’s space selection page, priority space selection for 2027 is already done. The application opened March 9, 2026, and companies that sent a contract and deposit by June 1, 2026 picked space in priority point order over the summer. New applicants now choose from the remaining space on a first-come, first-served basis, so the sooner you apply, the more locations you’ll have to choose from.
You apply through Map Your Show after reviewing the floor plans and the Rules & Regulations. PMMI’s Reserve My Booth page links to both.
Space rates by membership
| Rate category | Price per sq. ft. | 10’x10′ (100 sq. ft.) | 20’x20′ (400 sq. ft.) |
| Non-member | $34.25 | $3,425 | $13,700 |
| PMMI General Member, 1-6 years; Supplier, Materials, Associate and Affiliated Members | $32.25 | $3,225 | $12,900 |
| PMMI General Member, 7+ years | $26.75 | $2,675 | $10,700 |
PMMI’s space selection page lists these three rates, and all three include drayage, as long as your shipment meets the 2:00 pm target move-in condition. PMMI asks members to confirm their rate with the show department at 571-612-3200 or expo@pmmi.org.
Space is only one line in the budget. Booth design and fabrication, freight to Las Vegas, electrical and other utilities, labor, rigging (hanging signs and other elements from the ceiling), furnishings, graphics and travel are all separate costs. Our article on the hidden costs of trade show exhibiting walks through the ones exhibitors most often miss.
Payment schedule and cancellation terms
PMMI’s standard payment schedule for Las Vegas 2027 works like this:
- With your application: A 25% deposit, which is non-refundable and non-transferable
- By March 15, 2027: 50% of the booth price
- By May 17, 2027: The final 25%
- Booked after May 17, 2027: 100% due with the application
Cancelling gets more expensive as the show gets closer. If you cancel after March 15 and before May 17, 2027, you forfeit the money paid to date, up to 75% of the booth price. After May 17, you forfeit everything you’ve paid. These terms come from PMMI’s PACK EXPO Las Vegas FAQ, and your signed contract governs any edge case. If cash flow is a concern, ask PMMI whether other payment options are available.
Pavilions and hall locations
PMMI groups related exhibitors into pavilions, including Healthcare Packaging and Confectionery in the North Hall, Containers & Materials in the South Lower Hall, and a new Digital Transformation pavilion in the West Hall. Pavilion placement is subject to PMMI’s approval. Hall assignments also shift between editions, so check PMMI’s current pavilion pages rather than older guides.
Booth height limits and design rules
PACK EXPO Las Vegas ties maximum booth height to booth size. The limit covers everything in the booth, including logos, graphics and hanging signs.
| Booth size | Common booth dimensions | Maximum height | Hanging signs |
| Under 600 sq. ft. | 10’x10′, 10’x20′, 20’x20′ | 12′ | Not permitted |
| 600 to 1,499 sq. ft. | 20’x30′ | 14′ | Permitted, within 14′ |
| 1,500 sq. ft. and up | 30’x50′ | 18′ | Permitted, within 18′ |
PMMI’s FAQ describes the smallest tier as booths “under 599 sq. ft.,” which doesn’t say what happens to a booth of exactly 599 sq. ft. If your space falls right at that line, get PMMI’s answer in writing before you approve drawings. The FAQ also doesn’t list a height exemption for machinery, so a tall machine has to fit under the limit like everything else.
All display material and machinery must sit at least 1′ back from every aisle. On a 20’x20′ island, that leaves an 18’x18′ zone, or 324 sq. ft., for your equipment and displays. That’s 19% less than the space you paid for, so lay out the machine’s footprint and operating reach inside the setback from the start.
Two points are worth planning around early:
- Small booths can’t have a hanging sign. If you’re used to shows where a 20’x20′ booth carries an overhead sign, plan to get your visibility from the booth structure, lighting and the machine itself.
- Neighbors’ sightlines may be protected. Past PACK EXPO manuals have included line-of-sight rules for in-line and peninsula booths. Until you’ve confirmed the 2027 rules, keep tall machines toward the back of an in-line booth.
PMMI’s Rules & Regulations cover what may be exhibited and how exhibits are arranged, and the Exhibitor Services Manual is due in May 2027. Check both for any limits on sound levels, machine guarding, lasers and other running equipment before you finalize the demo.
How to design a booth around running equipment
At an equipment show, many of your neighbors will have machines running too. The booths that draw people in are usually the ones where an attendee can understand the demo from the aisle, then find someone to talk to without getting in the demo’s way.
Make the demo easy to read from the aisle
Show the input and the output. A visitor who can see empty containers going in and sealed, labeled packages coming out understands the machine faster than one reading a spec sheet. Put a one-line statement of the problem the machine solves, along with its throughput, on a graphic large enough to read while walking past.
Backwall graphics, tension fabric lightboxes and LED lighting aimed at the working area all help a machine stand out in a busy hall. Our custom graphics team designs and prints these in our own facility, so the graphics can be written around the specific machine they sit behind. If a full cycle is too long or too hazardous to run continuously, a short sample run or a looped video near the machine can fill the gaps between runs. PMMI prohibits photos and video without the exhibitor’s permission, so decide in advance what visitors may record.
Keep the demo and the conversations separate
Give technical conversations their own zone, such as a counter or a small seating area away from the machine’s noise and operating space. Keep observers outside the machine’s operating envelope, and plan where a crowd will stand so it doesn’t block the aisle or the rest of your booth.
Staff the demo with people who can answer engineering questions. In the Center for Exhibition Industry Research’s (CEIR) research on exhibition floor engagement, 79% reported high attendee use of in-booth time with technical product experts, close to the 83% reported for sales and marketing staff. Many PACK EXPO visitors are engineers and plant managers, and they’ll expect someone in the booth who can talk specifics.
Custom demo stations and counters can be built around your machine so the demo, the conversation zone and storage all fit in the same footprint. Our trade show booth design services start by working out how your equipment and your team will share the space.
Order electrical, compressed air and water early
Utility orders for a running machine need more detail than a standard booth. Before you order, collect these specifications from your engineering team:
- Electrical: Voltage, phase, amperage and startup or inrush demand, plus connection locations and any need for continuous power
- Compressed air: Pressure, flow and air quality
- Water: Supply and drainage requirements
- Other needs: Network connections, heat or exhaust, operating clearances, and setup and commissioning time
- Consumables: Product, film, containers or other materials needed to run samples
Have your equipment team and your booth team sign off on one service drawing. Then place orders through PACK EXPO Services against the deadlines in the May 2027 Exhibitor Services Manual.
How to stand out when every booth has a machine
When most booths near yours have equipment on display, clarity and presentation are what set yours apart. A clean, well-lit booth with one clear message per machine is easier to take in than a booth covered in specs. In a booth under 600 sq. ft., use the full 12′ of height with the booth structure and lighting, since a hanging sign isn’t allowed.
If you also exhibit at other machinery shows, our guide to exhibiting at IMTS applies the same approach to a manufacturing technology audience.
Drayage, move-in and installation
Logistics is where equipment exhibitors feel the most pressure, because a machine can’t be carried in at the last minute. Being based in Las Vegas helps us with move-in. We can respond quickly on site, skip long-distance shipping from our own facility, store booths near the venues, and bring last-minute items or changes during move-in.
The 2:00 pm drayage deadline
Drayage, also called material handling, is moving your freight from the truck at the loading dock to your booth, and back to the dock after the show. At PACK EXPO Las Vegas, drayage is included in the space rate if your shipment checks in at the LVCC by 2:00 pm on its assigned target move-in date. PMMI says other packaging and processing shows don’t include drayage this way.
Missing the 2:00 pm check-in costs money. A late shipment pays special assessment pricing, and PMMI points exhibitors to the Rules & Regulations and the May 2027 Exhibitor Services Manual for those rates. Confirm your target move-in date as soon as the manual is out. Build extra time into your freight plan, especially for long-haul or cross-border shipments. If your truck can’t make its assigned target, ask PACK EXPO Services about a target change. At PACK EXPO International 2026, requests had a set deadline and approval wasn’t guaranteed. Keep in mind that included drayage doesn’t cover freight to Las Vegas, rigging or installation labor.
Crating and shipping machinery
Before your equipment ships, document the crate dimensions, weights, point loads and lifting points for each piece. Check the route from the loading dock to your booth, and compare heavy loads against the floor ratings in the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority’s (LVCVA) current Las Vegas Convention Center facility guide. If a piece is heavier than the floor rating allows, raise it with show management and the LVCC well before it ships.
Our founder, Richard Spinella, began his career in 1987 building crates for a CES project, so crating is where Xibit’s story started. Today we handle professional crating, freight coordination and advance warehouse arrangements (delivering freight to the show’s staging warehouse before move-in) for our clients.
Using your own installation company
PACK EXPO Services is the official move-in, move-out and freight contractor. You can still hire your own exhibit company to install and dismantle your booth, but doing so comes with two separate obligations:
- Notify show management. PMMI’s 2027 process and deadline for exhibitor-appointed contractors are expected in the May 2027 Exhibitor Services Manual.
- Meet the venue’s permit rules. Every contractor working at the LVCC needs an LVCVA exhibitor-appointed contractor permit, which requires a certificate of insurance and a $250 annual fee.
Confirm the show-management notice and the venue permit as soon as the 2027 manual comes out. Our installation and dismantling services include the show-service paperwork and union labor coordination, so your team isn’t tracking contractor deadlines on top of everything else.
What your own staff can do at the LVCC
Under the LVCVA’s venue rules, exhibitors may hand-carry items from personal vehicles parked in its lots. Hand carts, dollies and pallet jacks aren’t allowed. Hand-carrying also doesn’t give you access to the loading docks. Anything one person can’t carry goes through the show contractor.
Full-time employees of an exhibiting company may set up their own booth, subject to show management approval and venue conditions. Union jurisdiction varies by show and contractor, and PACK EXPO Services’ 2027 labor rules will govern this show. If your technicians plan to position, test or commission your equipment, confirm what they’re allowed to do in the 2027 manual before you book their travel.
Planning timeline for a September 2027 show
This timeline combines PMMI’s published deadlines with our typical custom booth build stages. The build times are typical estimates, and a complex booth or a late decision can stretch them.
| When | What to do |
| Now (fall 2026) | Apply for remaining space. Confirm your rate, pavilion fit, machine list, weights and freight origin. |
| October 2026 | Official hotel booking opens through Expovision. Start the staffing and travel plan. |
| January 2027 | Sponsorship opportunities launch. Draft directory content and a target account list. |
| Early 2027 (recommended) | Start booth design. Design concepts typically take 2-3 weeks. |
| March 15, 2027 | 50% of booth price due. |
| April 2027 | Attendee registration opens. Complete your directory listing and start customer invitations. Detailed planning and prototyping typically take 2-4 weeks. |
| May 2027 | Exhibitor Services Manual released. Confirm your target move-in date, contractor notice, utility orders and every order deadline. |
| May 17, 2027 | Final 25% of booth price due. Cancelling after this date forfeits 100% of what you’ve paid. |
| Summer 2027 | Production typically takes 4-8 weeks. Sign off on the service drawing, test the demo and book freight with extra time built in. |
| September 12, 2027 | Attendee early-bird pricing ends. Send final customer invitations before this date. |
| Assigned target move-in date | Truck checks in at the LVCC by 2:00 pm to keep drayage included. Allow time for commissioning and safety checks. |
| September 27-29, 2027 | Show days. Run demos and record an agreed next step for each lead. |
| After the show | Run your lead follow-up plan. |
At Xibit, a custom booth typically takes 8 to 15 weeks from design concepts through production. We recommend starting design early in 2027, which leaves room for the May manual, design revisions and machine changes without squeezing production.
Pre-show promotion and lead follow-up
According to PMMI’s FAQ, attendee registration opens in April 2027, at $30 through September 12, 2027, and $130 after that. Send customer invitations as soon as registration opens, and follow up before the early-bird price ends.
Online directory listing and Package Upgrades
PMMI’s FAQ says every exhibitor gets a free directory listing through the Exhibitor Resource Center. It includes your company description, contact details, website and social links, product categories, vertical markets served and press releases. Choose your product categories carefully, because buyers search by them. If you’re running a live demo, flag it: at recent PACK EXPO shows, attendees have used a gear icon in the directory to find exhibitors planning demonstrations.
PMMI also sells four Package Upgrades that add detailed descriptions, logo visibility, a product gallery with images and video, enriched lead data and featured search placement. For paid promotion, PMMI’s sponsorships and advertising page says 2025 exhibitors who promoted their booth in Game Plan, PMMI Media Group’s pre-show guide, averaged 78% more leads than exhibitors who didn’t. That’s PMMI’s own figure, and larger exhibitors with bigger budgets likely account for some of the difference. PMMI also runs a Customer Invite Program through its official vendor Nvytes, and 2027 details are still to come. For exhibitors who want to speak at the show, PMMI’s FAQ lists a contact.
A warning about attendee lists
PMMI does not sell or rent attendee email lists. Any offer of a PACK EXPO attendee email list is fraudulent, and PMMI asks exhibitors to block the sender and report it to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. The legitimate option is a one-time use of the attendee mailing list, sent through a third-party mail house and arranged through PMMI Media Group. You never receive the attendee addresses yourself.
Hotel offers call for the same caution. PMMI’s official vendors page lists the authorized companies and warns that official vendors never email from Gmail, Yahoo or Outlook addresses.
Lead follow-up
Official lead retrieval runs through Maritz and XPress Leads. Decide how you’ll handle leads before the booth opens:
- Agree on qualification fields, such as application, timeline and next step
- Assign an owner for each type of lead
- Route technical requests to engineering, separate from sales follow-up
- Keep badge scans separate from qualified opportunities
- Schedule the follow-up work before the show starts
Should you rent or buy your booth?
If your company exhibits at both PACK EXPO Las Vegas and PACK EXPO International, you’re at a PACK EXPO show every year. Add Southeast or East, and some years bring two PACK EXPO shows. An annual schedule changes the rent-or-buy math. We generally find that buying a custom booth makes financial sense at roughly three or more uses. One PACK EXPO show a year reaches that point in three years, and adding a regional show gets you there sooner. Our article on whether to rent or purchase a trade show booth covers the full comparison.
Renting still makes sense if you’re trying Las Vegas for the first time, changing booth sizes between shows or don’t want to store a booth. Our trade show booth rentals for Las Vegas conventions include design, custom graphics, installation and dismantling.
For the smaller floors at Southeast and East, modular displays are worth considering. They reconfigure for different booth sizes and can get new graphics between shows.
Tips for international exhibitors
International exhibitors have a longer freight chain, which makes the 2:00 pm target move-in window harder to hit. Plan customs clearance and ocean or air freight with extra time, and confirm your target date as soon as the May 2027 manual is out. Our in-house multilingual consultants can walk international clients through U.S. trade show requirements, shipping and logistics in their own language. We also coordinate customs documentation and freight forwarding.
Frequently asked questions
Is drayage included at PACK EXPO Las Vegas?
Yes, drayage is included in the space rate as long as your shipment checks in at the LVCC by 2:00 pm on its assigned target move-in date. Shipments that miss that window pay special assessment pricing.
Can a 10’x10′ booth have a hanging sign at PACK EXPO Las Vegas?
No. Booths under 600 sq. ft., which includes 10’x10′, 10’x20′ and 20’x20′ booths, can’t have hanging signs and are limited to 12′ in height.
How much does a 10’x10′ booth cost at PACK EXPO Las Vegas 2027?
Space for a 10’x10′ booth costs $3,425 at the non-member rate of $34.25 per sq. ft. PMMI members pay $32.25 or $26.75 per sq. ft., depending on membership category and length of membership.
When is booth space payment due for PACK EXPO Las Vegas 2027?
PMMI requires a 25% non-refundable deposit with the application, 50% by March 15, 2027 and the final 25% by May 17, 2027. Booths booked after May 17, 2027 are paid in full at application.
Can my own staff set up our booth at the Las Vegas Convention Center?
Full-time employees of an exhibiting company may set up their own booth, subject to show management approval and venue rules. Machinery and anything one person can’t carry has to go through the show contractor.
Does PMMI sell the PACK EXPO attendee list?
No. PMMI does not sell or rent attendee email lists, and any offer of one is a scam. Exhibitors can arrange a one-time mailing to attendees through PMMI Media Group, which sends it through a third-party mail house.
Do PACK EXPO Las Vegas and PACK EXPO International draw the same attendees?
Mostly not. PMMI reports that 74% of PACK EXPO Las Vegas attendees don’t attend any other PACK EXPO show.
Get help planning your booth
If you’re planning to exhibit at PACK EXPO Las Vegas 2027, we’d be glad to talk through your equipment, your booth size and your timeline. We handle design, fabrication, graphics, installation and show services from our North Las Vegas facility, so your sales team arrives to a finished booth and can spend the show with buyers. Our 10’x20′ booth for Elle Jewelry won Best of Show at WWD MAGIC in Las Vegas. Get your free estimate or call us at (702) 361-7502.
