Who exhibits and attends PACK EXPO Las Vegas
PACK EXPO Las Vegas is produced by PMMI, the Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies, whose members make and supply packaging and processing equipment. The 2025 show, 30 years after the event's debut, drew more than 30,000 attendees and 20,000 exhibitor personnel, with more than 2,300 exhibitors on a record 1,000,000 net square feet across four halls.
The organizer pitches the audience as buyers from more than 40 vertical industries with projects in hand. Pavilions for 2027 include the Processing Zone, Healthcare Packaging, Containers and Materials, Logistics, Package Printing, Reusable Packaging, Confectionery, and a new Digital Transformation Pavilion. No one under 14 is allowed on the show floor before, during, or after the show.
PACK EXPO Las Vegas 2027: dates, halls, and the two-year cycle
PACK EXPO Las Vegas 2027 runs September 27 to 29 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesday. PMMI lists the exhibits in the West, North, Central, and South Lower halls, so ask which hall your space is in before the structure is designed.
PMMI holds the Las Vegas show every two years. The 2025 edition ran September 29 to October 1, and its sister show, PACK EXPO International, runs October 18 to 21, 2026 in Chicago. The 2027 exhibitor service manual, with the move-in schedule and service deadlines, is due out in May 2027.
PACK EXPO Las Vegas height limits by booth size
PACK EXPO Las Vegas sets height by booth size rather than booth type, and the limit covers all display material, logos and graphics included. From the organizer's FAQ:
- Booths smaller than 600 square feet: 12 feet, with no hanging signs
- Booths of 600 to 1,499 square feet: 14 feet, and hanging signs are allowed
- Booths of 1,500 square feet and up: 18 feet, and hanging signs are allowed
- All display material and machinery set back at least 1 foot from every aisle
- The full rules and regulations are a binding part of the space contract, covering what may be exhibited, installation and dismantling, and signage
Running packaging machinery in an LVCC booth
Live equipment is why buyers come, and the convention center's facility guide sets rules for any booth with moving machinery: a clearly marked safety zone, physical guards where needed between attendees and moving, spinning, pinching, or crushing parts, factory guards left in place, hazard signage, trained staff watching the crowd, easy-to-reach emergency stops, and controls locked or out of reach. No moving part may extend into the aisle.
Utilities shape the plan as much as safety does. The LVCC lets exhibitors show an air compressor only without load, so compressed air for pneumatic equipment comes through an official service contractor's drops. Floors in the West, North, and South 1 and 2 halls, and most of the Central Hall, are rated at 450 pounds per square foot, but heavy equipment headed for C3, the C3 concourse, or C4 may need a structural engineer's review. Get the weight and footprint of every machine before the layout is final.
Designing PACK EXPO booths around lines, guarding, and service access
A packaging line needs more than floor space. Plan where product enters and leaves the machine, where film, cartons, and samples are staged, and where a technician can reach panels without stepping into the crowd. Platforms and risers can lift a line into view while hiding cable and air runs, and a viewing rail or glazed guard lets buyers stand close without entering the safety zone.
Keep conversation away from noise. Engineers and plant managers often want to sit down with drawings, so a meeting room or quiet table area away from running equipment, with a screen for line layouts and specs, is worth the square footage. Graphics should explain speed, changeover, and package formats at a glance, because the machine can't say it for itself.
Drayage, booth plans, and rigging for PACK EXPO Las Vegas
PACK EXPO Services is the official move-in, move-out, and freight contractor, and it handles booth services too. Drayage, the move from your truck to the booth and back, is included in the space rate as long as the truck checks in at the convention center by 2 p.m. on its assigned target move-in date. Book trucks and machinery riggers around that target, since the included handling depends on it.
The building adds its own deadlines. The LVCC facility guide requires booth plans for any single-level exhibit over 1,000 square feet, sent to the Safety and Fire Prevention Office at least 30 days before the first move-in day; an occupied upper deck needs a 100-pound-per-square-foot live load rating and two exits once it passes 300 square feet. Final rigging plans for hanging signs are due 14 days before move-in, and only electric hoists are allowed.
A two-year PACK EXPO Las Vegas planning timeline
Because the show comes around every other September, the planning arc is long. As general guidance, using what PMMI has published for 2027: the Las Vegas trade show calendar keeps the dates, the guide to what a custom booth costs helps frame the budget, our trade show checklist fills in the tasks, and the RFP template helps when you compare builders.
- Late 2026: apply for space through PMMI and decide which machines will run
- Early 2027: concept and 3D design with machine weights, utilities, and guarding drawn in
- May 2027: review the exhibitor service manual for move-in dates and deadlines
- Summer 2027: engineering, booth plans to the LVCC at least 30 days before move-in, and rigging plans 14 days before
- August and September 2027: fabrication, graphics, a shop walk-through, and the target move-in