The Christmas Gift + Hobby Show returns for its 77th year on November 11-15, 2026. The show fills the West Pavilion at the Indiana State Fairgrounds & Event Center, and its pages publish 375 vendors and 45,000+ shoppers. A firm sends staff here for two reasons. One crew works a booth and another buys holiday stock. Both trips carry a room bill, and the booth side carries a cost sheet.
What a 10x10 booth costs in 2026
The published 2026 space rate is $10.79 per square foot. A 10x10 booth bills at $1,079.00. Four further lines sit on top of it.
- 1-500 watt electrical outlet: $25.00 (required)
- Vendor listing: $149 (required)
- New vendor charge: $100, new vendors only
- Corner rate: $200; island premium: $425
- Direct sale-demo fee: $150; storage: $60 per 100 sq ft (a 5'x10' space)
A first-time vendor in a standard 10x10 pays $1,353.00 for space, outlet and listing. A returning vendor pays $1,253.00. The rate page lists bulk rates and crafter rates as available and publishes no figure for either, so a second 10x10 takes a phone call.
What the booth fee covers, and what it does not
The amenities package includes an 8-foot draped back wall with 3-foot side rails, an 11" x 17" company identification sign, 24-hour security, vendor identification badges, parking passes, a show guide listing, a website listing, VIP tickets and discounted admission tickets. Flooring is mandatory and is not included.
Badges, tickets and the parking passes
Badges run at five per 100 square feet of purchased space, capped at 15 per company, and at $10.00 each beyond the allowance. Door guards ask for a badge from 9:00 a.m. on November 11 through the close of the show. The ticket allowance runs at ten complimentary tickets per 100 square feet, capped at ten per company, and further tickets cost $7.00 each against the $14.00 adult box-office price.
Two parking passes arrive with each contracted exhibit space. The Show Office issues them, and the Indiana State Fair Board requires them. A vehicle without a pass pays $10.00 per day.
The build days set the arrival date
Move-in opens Sunday, November 8 at 9:00 a.m. and closes at 5:00 p.m. Monday runs 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Tuesday runs 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and bans driving on the show floor. Move-in must finish by 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, and the schedule carries no Wednesday morning set-up window. The Show Office opens at 9:00 a.m. on November 8 for badge pickup and stays open through 3:00 p.m. on November 16.
Two calendars, and the room-nights each one books
Show hours run 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Sunday. A buying team that arrives Wednesday and works all five days checks out on Monday, November 16, and the Sunday 5:00 p.m. close leaves the whole of Monday for the return.
Six colleagues in three double rooms produce three room-nights per night. A build crew that arrives November 8 and checks out November 16 books eight nights, or 24 room-nights. At a labelled example rate of $200 per room per night the base bill runs $4,800.00. bookMyTeam publishes a 15-40% group band, so the same 24 room-nights land at $4,080.00 on the 15% step and $2,880.00 on the 40% step, or $680.00 and $480.00 per person.
A crew that arrives Wednesday, November 11 books five nights, or 15 room-nights. The base bill at the same labelled rate runs $3,000.00, or $2,550.00 at 15% off and $1,800.00 at 40% off, which is $425.00 and $300.00 per person. The example rate is the planner’s own input, and no Indianapolis rate for these dates is published.
Three double rooms sit below the published group threshold. bookMyTeam states that most hotels offer group rates for 10 or more rooms per night, and that some properties discount from as few as five rooms. A six-person crew falls in that second band, so the booking goes through the request form and the request carries the five-room line.
The four named properties, and the questions they leave open
The vendor kit names Comfort Inn East Indy, Staybridge Suites, Hampton by Hilton and Candlewood Suites under Accommodations, and publishes no room rate for any of them. Four property questions decide the room choice: the bed configuration a hotel holds for a six-person crew, the breakfast opening hour against a 10:00 a.m. show floor, coach and van parking, and whether the crew sits on one floor. The Indianapolis directory lists 273 hotels to compare, and the group rate calculator prices the room count first.
Deadlines that close before the doors open
- Decorator advance-order discount through Fern: October 7, 2026.
- Food and beverage sampling paperwork, including the certificate of insurance, the ServSafe certificate and the Indiana Department of Health link: October 9, 2026.
- Final payment for exhibit space: October 15, 2026. An account not paid in full by that date loses its place in the show program listing.
Indiana sales tax runs at 7%, and attendee parking costs $10.00 per car per day.
Show contacts, and two free-admission days
Two days inside the run carry free admission: Hero Day on Wednesday, November 11 for veterans, active-duty military, police, fire and first responders with valid identification, and Teacher Day on Sunday, November 15 for teachers and school staff.
The show’s page for corporate tickets publishes heathern@mpeshows.com as its contact. Show management is Marketplace Events, 2000 Auburn Dr., Ste 200, Beachwood, OH 44122, on 800.395.1350, and the show line is 317.705.8719. The platform mechanics page carries the block, cut-off and attrition terms for the room side.
