Cheat sheet · updated 2026-09-01
Trade Show Seasonality by Industry 2026–27
When does each industry's trade show season actually happen? This sheet counts 717 shows with organizer-verified dates across October 2026 – September 2027 and lays them out by month. Use it to pick the quarter to exhibit in, avoid pile-up weeks, and book travel before the peak.
The year at a glance
Shows starting in each month. October 2026 (121) and March 2027 (97) are the peaks; December 2026 (25) and June 2027 (60) are the quiet months among those already well published — the last months of the window fill in as organizers announce dates.
| Month | Shows |
|---|---|
| October 2026 | 121 |
| November 2026 | 82 |
| December 2026 | 25 |
| January 2027 | 78 |
| February 2027 | 81 |
| March 2027 | 97 |
| April 2027 | 72 |
| May 2027 | 61 |
| June 2027 | 60 |
| July 2027 | 19 |
| August 2027 | 14 |
| September 2027 | 7 |
Industry × month heatmap
Industries with at least 12 verified shows in the window, most active first. Darker = more shows starting that month; the number is in every cell. Click an industry for its full schedule.
| Industry | Oct ’26 | Nov ’26 | Dec ’26 | Jan ’27 | Feb ’27 | Mar ’27 | Apr ’27 | May ’27 | Jun ’27 | Jul ’27 | Aug ’27 | Sep ’27 | Total | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing & Industrial | 11 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 50 | Oct ’26 |
| Construction & Real Estate | 10 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 48 | Oct ’26 |
| Retail & Consumer Goods | 5 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 42 | Jan ’27 |
| Outdoor Recreation | 2 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 42 | Feb ’27 |
| Building & Construction | 7 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 40 | Feb ’27 |
| Food & Beverage | 5 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 39 | Mar ’27 |
| Cybersecurity | 7 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 30 | Oct ’26 |
| Healthcare & Life Sciences | 6 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 28 | Oct ’26 |
| Energy & Environment | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | Oct ’26 |
| Agriculture & Farming | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 26 | Feb ’27 |
| Toys & Gifts | 2 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 26 | Jan ’27 |
| Marketing, Media & Publishing | 5 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 23 | Oct ’26 |
| Boating & Marine | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 23 | Feb ’27 |
| Enterprise IT | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | Jun ’27 |
| Agriculture & Cannabis | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 21 | Feb ’27 |
| Automotive & Mobility | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 20 | Mar ’27 |
| Fashion & Apparel | 5 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | Oct ’26 |
| Travel, Hospitality & Outdoor | 4 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | Nov ’26 |
| Beauty & Cosmetics | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 18 | Mar ’27 |
| Human Resources | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | Apr ’27 |
| Medical Devices | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | Oct ’26 |
| Gaming | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | Oct ’26 |
| Supply Chain & Logistics | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 17 | May ’27 |
| Book Publishing | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | Nov ’26 |
| Firearms & Hunting | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 17 | Jan ’27 |
| AI & Machine Learning | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | Jun ’27 |
| Sports, Fitness & Recreation | 1 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | Jan ’27 |
| Pharmaceutical | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | Oct ’26 |
| HVAC | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | Oct ’26 |
| Beverage | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 15 | Mar ’27 |
Outlined cell = that industry's peak month. A show tagged with two industries counts in both rows.
Who peaks when
Busiest weeks
- Week of Oct 5–Oct 11, 202633
- Week of Oct 19–Oct 25, 202633
- Week of Mar 1–Mar 7, 202733
- Week of Mar 15–Mar 21, 202731
- Week of Oct 12–Oct 18, 202628
- Week of Nov 2–Nov 8, 202626
Weeks start Monday. Expect hotel and flight pressure in host cities these weeks.
Where the shows are
- Las Vegas97
- New York38
- Orlando31
- Chicago24
- Atlanta20
- San Diego16
- New Orleans15
- San Francisco14
- Nashville13
- Anaheim13
26 countries in the window. Las Vegas by month: Oct 16 · Nov 11 · Dec 4 · Jan 10 · Feb 13 · Mar 10 · Apr 9 · May 9 · Jun 3 · Jul 6 · Aug 4 · Sep 2.
Shape of a show
Length (days, incl. first and last): 1-day 13 · 2-day 99 · 3-day 319 · 4-day 199 · 5-day 50 · 6-day 13.
Opening day: Mon 155 · Tue 191 · Wed 110 · Thu 73 · Fri 63 · Sat 46 · Sun 79.
Plan travel for a Monday or Tuesday open and a 3–4 day run unless the show page says otherwise.
How to use this
- Exhibitors: your industry's peak month is where your buyers already travel — but it's also where booth space, housing and attention are scarcest. The second-peak month is often the better value. Open the industry's hub from the heatmap for the actual shows, then run the ROI calculator on the shortlist.
- Attendees: stack visits inside a peak month and city (Las Vegas in October 2026 is the obvious one) to cover several shows per trip; avoid the busiest weeks if you're booking late.
- Organizers and marketers: the quiet months are where a new event meets the least calendar competition.
Method
Counts are organizer-verified shows in the ConventionGrid catalog starting in each calendar month of October 2026 – September 2027, recomputed every time the site builds. A show tagged with more than one industry is counted in each. This is our verified calendar, not a census of every event in the world — as organizers publish dates for the far end of the window the later months fill in. Month pages: Oct ’26 · Nov ’26 · Dec ’26 · Jan ’27 · Feb ’27 · Mar ’27 · Apr ’27 · May ’27 · Jun ’27 · Jul ’27 · Aug ’27 · Sep ’27.
Cite freely with a link (CC BY 4.0). Related: Trade Show Planning Hub · the calendar · Show Countdown Planner · venues.