PACK EXPO East 2028Exhibitor guide: booth costs, dates and deadlines

Start with the 10×20 that holds one running machine: $7,500 to $15,000 as a rental or $15,000 to $45,000 custom. A 20×30, the smallest footprint allowed 14 feet, runs $75,000 to $175,000 custom. Machine plinths, guarding and crating move our price most. PMMI bills space at the $34.25 per sq ft standard rate, or $6,850 for a 10×20, with drayage included for trucks that check in on time.

February 1, 2027. PMMI opens contracts on October 26, 2026, and only companies whose contract and 25% deposit arrive by February 1 join Priority Space Selection in late February, members first, then non-members by priority points. After that, booths sell first come, first served. For the build itself we need design sign-off by early January 2028.

A PACK EXPO East rental is drawn to the height tier your footprint falls in: under 600 sq ft that means a frame and printed back wall that stop at 12 feet, a lit header, a machine plinth with guard rail, a spec counter and lockable storage. Freight timed to your target check-in, install and dismantle in Halls A–C sit on one fixed proposal.

Only without an installer. The building's January 2026 work rules let your full-time employees set up and tear down a booth of any size with their own power tools and ladders up to 6 feet, and unload a personally owned sedan, SUV, pickup or van. Hire an exhibitor-appointed contractor and show labor installs every light fixture, lit sign and stem light. Our project manager leads that install.

Square footage sets it. A 10×10, 10×20 or 20×20 island, anything to 599 sq ft, tops out at 12 feet and may not hang a sign. Booths of 600 sq ft up to 1,499 sq ft may climb to 14 feet; 1,500 sq ft and larger reach 18 feet. PMMI adds setback and line-of-sight rules to every tier, so we draw to yours from the first sketch.

Yes, with a condition. PMMI folds drayage and material handling into the $34.25 per sq ft standard space rate, covering the move from your truck to the booth and back, provided the shipment checks in at the Pennsylvania Convention Center by 12:00 pm on its assigned target move-in date. The Rules & Regulations list special assessment pricing, which is why we hold that target date.

Exhibit Halls A–C of the Pennsylvania Convention Center, part of a line of five exhibit halls that runs from 11th Street toward Broad Street. Hall A loads through docks 15 to 28 with a drive-in ramp, and Hall B through docks 7 to 14 with its own ramp. Once PMMI assigns your space, we plan the crate path from the closest dock.

We build PACK EXPO East booths in modules, so the plinth, counters and lit header that served PACK EXPO Southeast in Atlanta or PACK EXPO Las Vegas can come to Philadelphia, trimmed to the 12-foot tier if they stand taller, then travel on to INTERPHEX in New York with walls cut or extended to its rules. Between shows we store the kit and reprint graphics.

We do. PACK EXPO Services covers move-in, move-out, freight, booth services and furnishings, so we place those orders and hold your target date. We also line up XPress Leads lead retrieval and Maritz badge registration, your Nvytes Customer Invite Program list and the MapYourShow listing, and remind you when Expovision opens hotels in April 2027.

PACK EXPO East 2028 runs Tuesday, March 21 through Thursday, March 23, 2028. The floor opens 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Thursday. Exhibitor dates start earlier: PMMI opens space contracts October 26, 2026, and the contract and 25% deposit for Priority Space Selection are due February 1, 2027.

At the Pennsylvania Convention Center, 1101 Arch Street in Philadelphia, in Exhibit Halls A–C. SEPTA's Jefferson Station serves the building, and the Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau puts Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) 20 minutes away by SEPTA Regional Rail. Expovision, the show's only official housing partner, takes hotel reservations from April 2027.

PMMI counted more than 7,300 attendees and 2,700 exhibitor personnel at PACK EXPO East 2026, held February 17–19 in Philadelphia. The 2024 show drew 7,977 attendees and over 500 exhibitors on 120,000 net sq ft, the 2022 edition more than 6,600 attendees and the March 2020 edition more than 7,100.

PMMI invites professionals involved in packaging or processing operations to attend: manufacturers, plant and production managers, engineers, quality and compliance staff, procurement teams, brand managers and package designers. Registration opens in September 2027 at $30 through March 3, 2028, then $130. Nobody under 14 may enter the floor on show days.

PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies, based in Herndon, Virginia, produces PACK EXPO East. It speaks for more than 1,100 North American equipment, component and materials suppliers to the packaging and processing industry, and its members get discounted space and pick booths before non-members. PMMI also stages PACK EXPO shows in Chicago, Atlanta and Las Vegas.