PACK EXPO International 2026 Guide: Dates, Registration, Buildings & What to Expect

PACK EXPO International 2026 runs from Sunday 18 to Wednesday 21 October 2026 at McCormick Place in Chicago. It is produced by PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies, runs every two years in even years, and fills all four McCormick Place buildings with roughly 1.3 million net square feet of exhibits. Halls open 09:00-17:00 Sunday to Tuesday and 09:00-15:00 on the Wednesday.

Registration is $30 through Friday 25 September 2026 and $130 after that - a 333 percent increase for waiting. The badge covers the entire show floor plus more than 150 free educational sessions on five on-floor stages, and it also gets you a free ride on the Metra Electric line and the show shuttle buses. Register here.

Three things catch people out. Your badge is not mailed to you, so build collection time into your first morning. Nobody under 14 is admitted to the show floor at any time, including carried infants. And the four buildings are far enough apart that "I will just walk over" is a 20-minute decision, not a two-minute one - which building your targets are in should shape your day before you arrive.

1. What Is PACK EXPO International?

PACK EXPO International is where consumer packaged goods companies go to buy machinery. Not to evaluate it on a spec sheet, but to stand in front of a running line, watch it fill, seal, label and palletize an actual product, and then talk to the person who would commission it.

That is the whole proposition. Roughly 2,700 exhibitors bring equipment that runs, and machinery on-site is flagged as an icon in the exhibitor directory because for many visitors it decides whether a booth is worth the walk.

More than half of attendees come from food and beverage - baking and snack, dairy, confectionery, meat and poultry, plant-based, prepared foods, wine, beer and spirits. The rest spreads across life sciences and pharma, cosmetics and personal care, pet food, household and automotive products, chemicals, cannabis, and e-commerce and warehouse distribution. PMMI counts more than 40 vertical markets, and the companies already committed for 2026 include PepsiCo, Nestlé, Mars, Hershey, General Mills, Tyson, Kraft Heinz, Coca-Cola, Procter and Gamble, Unilever, Pfizer, Merck, Moderna and Abbott.

Where 2026 sits

PACK EXPO International is the largest of six shows in PMMI's PACK EXPO portfolio and the only one that runs on a two-year cycle in Chicago. The others fill the gaps: PACK EXPO Las Vegas in odd years, plus PACK EXPO East, PACK EXPO Southeast, EXPO PACK México and EXPO PACK Guadalajara. One statistic PMMI uses in its exhibitor pitch is worth reading as a visitor too: 81 percent of PACK EXPO International buyers attend no other PACK EXPO show. Whichever side of the aisle you are on, the Chicago edition is not interchangeable with the others.

The 2024 edition set the show's own records: 48,000 registered attendees, 2,700 exhibitors, 1.32 million net square feet, and a 19 percent rise in international attendance over 2022. Two years is a long gap in a market where robotics and AI adoption have moved as fast as they have, which is PMMI's argument for the 2026 edition.

PACK EXPO International is the Americas counterpart to Düsseldorf's interpack, which ran in May 2026 and drew 127,000 visitors across 2,804 exhibitors. Our interpack 2026 recap is a useful preview of the themes and technologies likely to recur in Chicago. PACK EXPO also sits in a crowded October - see the full October 2026 calendar for the clashes.

The next edition after this one is PACK EXPO International 2028, again at McCormick Place. In between, the portfolio runs PACK EXPO Southeast in Atlanta (12-14 April 2027), EXPO PACK Guadalajara (8-10 June 2027), PACK EXPO Las Vegas (27-29 September 2027), PACK EXPO East in Philadelphia (21-23 March 2028) and EXPO PACK México (6-9 June 2028).

2. Dates & Daily Schedule

Two features of this calendar deserve attention before you book flights.

It starts on a Sunday, which is unusual for a North American industrial show: to be on the floor at 09:00 you are flying on the Saturday, spending a weekend day rather than a working one. Plenty of attendees skip it for that reason. If you are one of them, note that Sunday is not a soft opening - all four buildings are open full hours, the Vision 2030 cybersecurity session runs at 11:30, four Discovery Tours run, and the Young Professionals reception is that evening.

Wednesday closes at 15:00, two hours short of the other days, and the final day of a four-day show often has lighter stand staffing. If it is your travel day, an evening flight is safest if you want the full final day.

What runs alongside the floor, day by day

Source: PMMI's Schedule-at-a-Glance. One caveat on the last row: the Schedule-at-a-Glance puts the Amazing Packaging Race at 10:00-14:00, while its own dedicated race page says it begins at 09:00. The table follows the master schedule; verify the final time in the event app if you are competing or hosting a race stop.

The pattern is worth reading rather than skimming. Sunday's education starts late - nothing before 11:30 - so the morning is pure floor time. Monday is the fullest day, with education from 09:30, the Vision 2030 breakfast session before the halls open, and PACK gives BACK in the evening. Tuesday front-loads its networking into 07:30, and has a clash built into it: the Packaging & Processing Women's Leadership Network breakfast (07:30-09:00) and the International Networking Breakfast (07:30-09:30) run at the same time, so if you are eligible for both you have to pick one. Wednesday's stages all shut by 13:00, two hours before the halls do, leaving the last two hours floor-only.

3. Registration: The $30 Window Closes on 25 September

PACK EXPO International has one of the simplest pricing structures of any major trade show, and one of the steepest penalties for missing the deadline.

That is a $100 difference, or a 333 percent increase, once the priority-registration deadline passes. There is no on-site penalty beyond the standard rate and no multi-step early-bird ladder - just the one date. If you are even 60 percent sure you are going, register now; at $30 the option costs less than the airport sandwich you will regret buying instead. Full terms are on PMMI's registration information page.

What the badge includes

The badge is genuinely all-access, which is not true of every show at this scale:

• The entire show floor across all four buildings.
• All 150-plus free educational sessions on the five on-floor stages.
• Every pavilion, knowledge-sharing stage and show-floor destination.
• Free shuttle buses between official hotels and McCormick Place.
• A free ride on the Metra Electric commuter train to and from McCormick Place.

Notable separately registered or paid additions include the PMMI U workshops, the $49 Discovery Tours and the $95 PACK gives BACK ticket. None of them is required to get value from the show.

The routes to a free badge

There is no published free-entry tier for ordinary visitors, but two routes exist:

1. An exhibitor's customer invitation. Exhibitors run a Customer Invite Program and can send complimentary registration to their contacts. If you have a supplier, distributor or prospect exhibiting - and with 2,697 companies on the floor, most packaging buyers do - ask before you pay.

2. The Insider Advantage Program. An invitation-only track for qualified national and multinational CPG buying teams that includes complimentary registration codes for you and your colleagues, lounge access in North Building Room N-139 and Lakeside Center Room E-258, a bookable eight-person meeting room at no cost, and a dedicated hotel booking concierge. You apply through a request form and PMMI decides whether you qualify. If you are bringing a team of buyers from a large CPG, this is the first thing to do, and it changes the economics of the whole trip.

PMMI also runs a referral draw - invite five or more colleagues during registration, and if two register you are entered for VIP lounge access, two PACK gives BACK tickets and a $200 gift card, drawn 30 September 2026. A lottery, not a discount.

Practical registration notes

• Your badge will not be mailed. You get an email confirmation and collect the badge on site; some official hotels also host badge pickup. Build 20 minutes into your first morning.
• Nobody under 14 is admitted to the show floor, before, during or after the show. Strollers and carried infants are not permitted either. This is a hard rule at a show full of running machinery.
• Request your visa invitation letter during registration. Select the Letter of Invitation option and the personalized PDF arrives by email within a few days; if you have already registered, log back in and add the request. PMMI advises allowing up to three months for US visa processing, so the clock is already tight for some consulates. Full guidance is on the international attendees page.
• Set up My Show Planner after registering. It is the tool that makes a 2,697-exhibitor floor tractable, and it syncs with the mobile app on site.

4. What the Headline Numbers Actually Count

Three attendance figures circulate for this show, and they are not the same thing.

PMMI reports these separately and correctly in its 2024 post-show release. Aggregators and exhibitor marketing frequently do not, and you will see "77,500 attendees" quoted as if 77,500 people came to buy. The figure that describes your non-exhibitor attendee base is 48,000, while 77,500 represents PMMI's combined attendee-and-exhibitor population.

One caution on the 48,000 itself: PMMI does not break it down by role. It will include consultants, students, media, association staff and non-exhibiting suppliers alongside the buyers. Treat it as the ceiling on your addressable audience rather than a count of qualified prospects.

There is a second thing worth being straight about. PMMI's March 2026 announcement says the 2026 show "will be the largest in its history, featuring 1.3 million net square feet of exhibit space, more than 2,600 exhibitors, and approximately 48,000 professionals." Set those against the 2024 actuals - 1.32 million net square feet, 2,700 exhibitors, 48,000 attendees - and the published 2026 projections are level with or fractionally below the 2024 results, not above them. As of 7 September 2026 the live exhibitor directory lists 2,697 companies, three short of the 2024 record with six weeks still to run, so the show will very likely land in the same bracket as 2024 and may nudge past it.

None of that makes the show smaller in any way you would notice from inside an aisle. It just means "largest in its history" is a forecast rather than a measured fact until the post-show release lands in late October. Treat the 2024 actuals as the numbers you can rely on when justifying the trip.

5. The Floor: Four Buildings and Where the Exhibitors Actually Are

This is the part first-timers underestimate. McCormick Place is not a single hall with sectors in it - it is four separate buildings connected by long concourses and a skybridge, and the show occupies all of them: North, South, West and Lakeside Center. Walking between the far ends of two of them is a genuine 15 to 20 minute commitment.

PMMI's own planning advice puts the scale in perspective: "depending on the length of your conversations, you can expect to have time to engage with around 50 exhibitors." Fifty out of 2,697 is under two percent of the floor. That number, not the size of the show, is what should drive your preparation.

We pulled the full exhibitor directory on 7 September 2026 and counted where the listed companies actually sit:

Those rows describe 2,713 building placements from the 2,686 exhibitors that had a building assigned - 16 exhibitors hold booths in more than one building and account for the 27 extra placements. A further 11 of the 2,697 listings had no building assigned when we pulled the directory.

The seven pavilions, and which building each one is in

PMMI organizes about 44 percent of the floor into seven themed pavilions. The pavilions page describes what each covers but does not say where any of them is, which is the most useful fact about them. Here it is, counted from the directory:

The single most useful thing in this article, if you only take one: 745 of the 764 West Building listings belong to one of three pavilions - Containers and Materials, Healthcare Packaging and PACKage Printing. If your job is materials, containers, labeling, coding, printing, or pharma and medical device packaging, the West Building is your show, and you can plan a day that never leaves it.

The reverse does not hold as neatly. West is the least central building for a general machinery-and-automation brief, but check your target exhibitors before excluding it: healthcare packaging and printing exhibitors run substantial machinery, and West also hosts the Showcase of Packaging Innovations (W-42004), the PACK Challenge (W-26000), the Future Innovators Robotics Showcase (W-28000) and the Workforce Development Pavilion (W-40046 to W-41064).

The other clean split: Lakeside Center Upper is the processing floor. The Food and Beverage Processing Zone (227 exhibitors) and the Reusable Packaging Pavilion (72) both sit there. If you are buying front-end food processing rather than back-end packaging, that is your anchor.

North and South are the least pavilion-dominated - Logistics accounts for 90 of North's 487 listings and Confectionery for 50 of South's 519. Those two are where general packaging machinery lives, and where you will do the most undirected walking.

Show-floor navigation aids

• My Show Planner is the pre-show tool: search by keyword or category, request appointments, browse sessions, and build an agenda that syncs to the mobile app. The floor plans sit alongside it.
• Ask the Experts counters sit in each hall, and PMMI's Attendee Solutions Center is at N-4550 - staffed by industry executives who will talk through a specific project rather than point at a map.
• SMB Friendly marks exhibitors offering special financing, discounts or services to small and medium businesses. 364 of the 2,697 exhibitors carry it, about one in seven. For a small brand, that filter cuts the floor to something coverable.
• First-time attendees get a lounge in South Building Room S-102, with a Monday breakfast and a "Navigate The Show Like a Pro" session. Note a source conflict here: PMMI's FAQ says first-timers can "attend an orientation session each day", while the dedicated first-time attendee page schedules that session for Monday and Tuesday only, 08:30-09:30. Check the mobile app on the day rather than relying on either.

6. Education: 150+ Free Sessions on Five Stages

PACK EXPO International's education program is unusually good value because almost all of it is free and on the floor rather than sold as a conference pass. Five stages run through the show:

• Innovation Stage - 30-minute sessions on specific technologies, and the fastest way to survey what is new without walking.
• Food & Beverage Processing Innovation Stage - processing rather than packaging.
• Sustainability Central - circularity, recyclability and sustainability strategy.
• Industry Speaks - regulation and market shifts from industry bodies.
• Reusable Packaging Learning Center - implementing reusable transport packaging.

PMMI flags the 2026 topic list as including State of the Industry for both packaging and processing, Extended Producer Responsibility, GS1 Sunrise 2027, recycling, material handling, logistics and supply chain. If you have EPR exposure in a US state or a 2D barcode transition ahead of you, those are the two to diary rather than wander into.

Vision 2030: free, but gated and RSVP-only

Vision 2030 is three facilitated forums and the most substantial free content at the show - two-hour sessions with a meal, built around table discussions rather than a speaker at a lectern.

The catch is eligibility. PMMI describes these as "designed exclusively for CPGs and PMMI members in operations, plant managers, and engineers," and they require an RSVP, so a supplier who is not a PMMI member cannot attend. For CPG operations leads, the Tuesday downtime session has the most transferable output.

PMMI U workshops: paid, and they cost you the show floor

Three multi-day workshops run in the same week, with separate registration:

Read the times carefully. The Certified Trainer and Field Service Essentials workshops run 08:00 to 16:00 on show days, consuming essentially the whole exhibit day - taking either writes off two of your four days on the floor. The Risk Assessment workshop on 16-17 October is the only one that does not compete with the show, which makes it the sensible choice if you want both.

7. New for 2026

SMB FastTrack is the headline addition: a program connecting small and medium businesses with exhibitors offering special financing, discounts and services, plus sessions on lean operations, cost-effective packaging and scaling. In practice it surfaces as the SMB Friendly designation on 364 exhibitor listings and a filter in the planning tools - for a small brand walking into 1.3 million square feet, the difference between a viable day and an overwhelming one. The Contract Packaging Association is also on site for brands considering co-packing rather than buying equipment.

PACK EXPO Discovery Tours are new expert-led show floor tours run by PMMI Media Group at $49 per tour. Twenty run across the four days in 90-minute blocks, usually two simultaneously in different buildings:

Subjects repeat across days and cover robots, case packing and shrink bundling, bottling lines, liquid and food processing, stretch wrapping and palletizing, bagging and pouching, cartoning and multipacking, labels and printing, packaging on the shelf, digital transformation, facility expansion, and pharma and medical packaging. Most run in the North and South buildings.

Two constraints matter. Participation is restricted to end users, contract packagers/manufacturers and retailers - PMMI Media Group can decline any registration at its discretion and refunds declined registrants in full, so suppliers should not plan on getting in. And Wednesday has exactly one tour, at 09:00 on pharma and medical packaging, so that is the slot or nothing. Guides include former engineering, operations, facilities and marketing leaders from ProMach, HOPE Foods, Honeyville, Bush Brothers, Del Monte and Campbell Soup, plus a PMMI Media Group editor.

CPG NexGen Awards are new for 2026, recognizing ten professionals aged 35 and under from CPG and end-user companies. Nominations closed on 17 July, and selected honorees will receive a hosted show experience and recognition at PACK gives BACK.

The Future Innovators Robotics Showcase (W-28000) joins the existing student programs - the PACK Challenge (W-26000), which runs all four days with awards at 15:00 on the Tuesday, and the Amazing Packaging Race on the Wednesday morning.

The Showcase of Packaging Innovations returns at booth W-42004, inside the Containers and Materials Pavilion - award-winning package designs from around the world. If you work in structural or graphic packaging design rather than machinery, this is the highest concentration of relevant material on the floor.

8. Networking & Special Events

PACK gives BACK is the show's big night out and the one thing worth booking before you arrive. Third Eye Blind play the House of Blues Chicago on Monday 19 October, doors 17:30, performance 18:30. Tickets are $95 each, or ten for $855 under a 10-for-9 deal aimed at hosting customers, and include general admission, beer, wine and light hors d'oeuvres. Proceeds go to the PMMI Foundation. The 2024 edition drew nearly 3,000 people to see Nate Bargatze, so book early - during registration, or by logging back into your registration record. No one under 14, ID required.

The rest of the networking program:

• Packaging & Processing Women's Leadership Network breakfast - Tuesday 20 October, 07:30-09:00, with Col. Nicole Malachowski, USAF (Ret.), the first woman to fly with the Thunderbirds. RSVP required.
• Young Professionals Networking Reception - Sunday 18 October, 19:30-21:30, at the Game Room at the Chicago Athletic Association. Free, but RSVP required. This is the strongest argument for arriving in time for the Sunday.
• International Networking Breakfast - Tuesday 20 October, 07:30-09:30, open to all international attendees, RSVP required because space is limited. It clashes directly with the PPWLN breakfast, so you cannot do both. One further caution: PMMI's FAQ places it in South Building Room S-103bc while the international attendees page describes it as taking place "in the International Business Center", which is North Building Room N-427. Those are two different buildings. Take the location from your RSVP confirmation, and if you have not had one, ask at the IBC.
• Confectionery Industry Reception - Tuesday 16:00-17:30 in the Candy Bar Lounge inside the Confectionery Pavilion, South Building. No RSVP required; the lounge is open all week.
• Cold Pressure Council Annual Conference - Tuesday 20 October, 09:00-16:00, alongside the show.

9. Exhibiting at PACK EXPO International 2026

The normal booth-planning cycle for 2026 is over. The final payment deadline was 22 June 2026, and PMMI states that all booth space payments are due in full and are non-refundable. PMMI is still accepting space applications, though, through the Reserve My Booth page and the space application form. If you want to be on the floor in October, confirm current availability with the exhibit sales team and expect the full booth balance to be due immediately and non-refundable. Everyone else should read this section as preparation for 2028.

The rate, and the thing that makes it unusual

The standard space rate is $34.25 per square foot, and it includes drayage. PMMI member rates vary and are quoted individually rather than published.

Drayage - moving machinery from the truck at the dock to your booth and back - is normally a separate and painfully large line item at US shows, frequently five figures for a machinery exhibit. PMMI includes it, calling it "a benefit not seen for other packaging and processing trade shows," which materially changes any comparison made on headline rate alone. A 600 square foot booth is $20,550 in space, material handling included.

The condition attached is specific: drayage is included provided your shipment or truck checks in at McCormick Place by 14:00 on your assigned target move-in date. Miss the date or the time and you are into special assessment pricing. For a machinery exhibitor, that line deserves more attention than the rate itself.

Booth height rules, which are stricter than most

All display material and machinery must be set back at least one foot from every aisle. The no-hanging-signs rule under 600 square feet is the one that surprises first-time exhibitors, because it removes the cheapest way to be visible from across a hall. If overhead visibility matters, the 600 square foot threshold is a design decision, not a rounding of your budget. Full terms are in the rules and regulations.

Deadlines and process

• Target date change requests close 9 September 2026. Approval is not guaranteed and depends on booth location and overall move-in logistics.
• Cancellation terms are steep and past their milestones: the 25 percent deposit is non-refundable and non-transferable; cancellations after 23 March and before 22 June 2026 forfeit up to 75 percent of the total booth price; anything after 22 June forfeits 100 percent.
• Priority points govern space selection, and PACK EXPO International, Las Vegas, Southeast and East each hold separate priority standings. Exhibiting continuously moves you up; skipping other PACK EXPO shows does not damage your International standing. Position in the queue is earned over cycles, not bought.
• The complimentary online directory listing covers company description, contacts, website and social links, product categories, vertical markets and press releases. PMMI says the directory receives over a million views, which makes completing it properly one of the better-value hours in the whole process. Upgrades are sold separately.

10. Getting to McCormick Place

McCormick Place sits on the lakefront just south of downtown Chicago at 2301 S. King Drive. The transit options are good and driving is the worst of them. We covered the same campus in our IMTS 2026 guide; what follows is what differs for PACK EXPO.

Metra Electric, free. Access to the Metra Electric line is free to all PACK EXPO International visitors - there is a free Metra pass on the show's transportation page - and the station is on Level 2.5 of the Grand Concourse in the South Building, giving direct service to and from downtown. Return departures from McCormick Place run at 16:17, 16:47, 17:27 and 18:17 on the Sunday, and every 10 to 20 minutes from 15:12 to 18:10 Monday to Wednesday. Most German shows bundle transit into the badge and most American ones do not; this one effectively does, for one line.

Free show shuttles. Complimentary buses run between official PACK EXPO hotels and the campus, in during the morning and back in the afternoon. They drop off at all four buildings but pick up only at South, Lakeside and West. PMMI's own tip is that the queues are usually shorter at the West and Lakeside pickups than at South.

CTA from the airports. From O'Hare, take the Blue Line and change to a southbound Green Line at Clark and Lake. From Midway, take the Orange Line to Roosevelt and change to the Green Line, then one stop south to Cermak-McCormick Place, a two-block walk from the northwest corner of the West Building.

Airport shuttle. Go Airport Express runs shared rides at $39 for a single passenger or $33 per person in a pair or group, departing South Gate 3 every 30 minutes from 12:00 to 18:00 on show days. Ride services pick up in the South and West Buildings, the main taxi rank is at South Gate 4, and campus parking should be reserved in advance.

Hotels. Book through Expovision, the official housing office. A credit card guarantees the reservation, the first night is charged one to two weeks out, and the balance is collected at check-in. PMMI warns explicitly about third-party brokers that demand prepayment and then oversell - common enough around McCormick Place that the organizer flags it twice.

11. On-Site Practicalities

• Wi-Fi is free on the "PACK EXPO" network, no password.
• Coat and bag check costs $5 for coats and $6 for bags, at South Building Room S-101ab and the Hyatt McCormick exit, North Level 2.5, Lakeside Level 1 and West Room W-183a. Color-coded tickets tell you which one you used, which matters more than it sounds when you are in a different building at 16:45.
• Photography requires the exhibitor's permission, and cameras and recording devices are banned outright in educational sessions.
• Suitcasing is prohibited and enforced. Soliciting business in the aisles or in someone else's booth as a non-exhibitor gets you ejected and potentially banned from future PMMI events.
• First aid is in all four buildings. Emergencies: extension 6060 from a house phone, or 312-791-6060. Nursing rooms are in Lakeside Level 2, North/South Level 2.5 and West Level 1, via the Mamava app.
• FedEx Office is in South Building Level 2.5, with satellites in West and Lakeside. Mobility rental is through Scootaround near Gate 4 of the Grand Concourse; reserve in advance.
• International attendees have the International Business Center in North Building Room N-427, open 08:00-17:00 Sunday to Tuesday and 08:00-15:00 Wednesday, with multilingual staff, interpreters, meeting tables, charging and refreshments.

12. FAQs

When is PACK EXPO International 2026?

PACK EXPO International 2026 runs Sunday 18 to Wednesday 21 October 2026 at McCormick Place, Chicago. Show floor hours are 09:00-17:00 Sunday to Tuesday and 09:00-15:00 on Wednesday.

How much does PACK EXPO International 2026 registration cost?

$30 if you register by Friday 25 September 2026, and $130 after that. The badge covers the whole show floor, all 150-plus free educational sessions, the show shuttles and a free ride on the Metra Electric line.

Can I get into PACK EXPO International for free?

There is no published free tier, but two routes exist. Most exhibitors can send complimentary registrations through the Customer Invite Program, so ask a supplier or prospect who is exhibiting before you pay. Qualified national and multinational CPG buying teams can also apply to the invitation-only Insider Advantage Program, which includes complimentary registration codes.

Which building is each PACK EXPO pavilion in?

The Containers and Materials, Healthcare Packaging and PACKage Printing pavilions are all in the West Building. The Food & Beverage Processing Zone and the Reusable Packaging Pavilion are in Lakeside Center Upper. The Logistics Pavilion is in the North Building and the Confectionery Pavilion is in the South Building.

How big is PACK EXPO International 2026?

The show occupies roughly 1.3 million net square feet across all four McCormick Place buildings, and the online directory listed 2,697 exhibitors as of 7 September 2026. PMMI projects approximately 48,000 professionals, in line with the 2024 actual.

Did 77,500 people attend PACK EXPO International 2024?

Not as attendees. PMMI reports 48,000 registered attendees and 29,500 exhibitor personnel, which together give 77,500 total attendance. If you are sizing the non-exhibitor audience, 48,000 is the relevant figure - though PMMI does not break it down by role, so it includes consultants, students, media and non-exhibiting suppliers as well as buyers.

Do I need to pay extra for the educational sessions?

No. All 150-plus sessions across the five on-floor stages are included in the badge. The Vision 2030 forums are also free but restricted to CPGs and PMMI members in operations roles and require an RSVP. Notable paid or separately registered additions are the PMMI U workshops, the $49 Discovery Tours and the $95 PACK gives BACK ticket.

Can I bring my children to PACK EXPO International?

No. Nobody under 14 is permitted on the show floor at any time, and strollers and carried infants are not allowed either.

What does it cost to exhibit at PACK EXPO International?

The standard space rate is $34.25 per square foot and, unusually for a US show, it includes drayage and material handling - provided your truck checks in at McCormick Place by 14:00 on your assigned target move-in date. PMMI member rates vary and are quoted individually.

Can I still book a booth for PACK EXPO International 2026?

PMMI is still accepting space applications through its Reserve My Booth page. What has passed is the normal planning cycle: the final payment deadline was 22 June 2026, so a late applicant should confirm current availability with the exhibit sales team and expect the full booth balance to be due immediately and non-refundable. PMMI does not publish current availability.