HD Expo Booth Heights and Hanging Signs: The 2026 Rules at Mandalay Bay

A booth built by Methodex for Espen Technology at LightFair 2025.

Photo: Methodex

HD Expo 2027 key facts

The height, wall, sign, multi-level, sound, and contractor rules come from the HD Expo 2026 exhibitor service manual; the venue labor limits come from Mandalay Bay’s contractor and vendor policies. Ceiling heights are building measurements, not build limits. Confirm the rules in the HD Expo exhibitor manual before you design.

Last checked: October 2026

HD Expo returns to the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas in 2027. The organizer’s July 2026 announcement puts the expo hall on May 4 and 5. The 2026 show ran at the same venue May 5 to 7. Every Mandalay Bay exhibit hall has a 30-foot ceiling, so the 16-foot cap in the 2026 rules governs an HD Expo trade show booth.

Design firms, hotel and resort teams, and architects were the largest attendee groups in the show’s 2025 profile. Plan the booth as a furnished setting where they can handle products and finishes in place, with a table for reviewing samples.

Booth height, wall, and multi-level rules (2026)

Linear, corner, and end-cap booths topped out at 10 feet, and perimeter booths, which back onto a facility wall, at 12 feet. A peninsula had to measure at least 20×20, a minimum of four booth spaces, and its height was measured to the top of the structure, including signage. Split islands and islands larger than 20×20 shared the peninsula cap, while a 10×10, 10×20, or 10×30 island was held to the linear height. Anything above the 8-foot back wall or 3-foot side rails had to be finished, with no exposed wiring or framing, and peninsula, split island, and island exhibits needed a finished back wall on all sides. The booth structure was to be designed so that any side next to another exhibitor’s booth was 3 inches less than the booth space.

A multi-level exhibit needed facility and show approval, and every multi-level or covered exhibit needed a plan signed, sealed, and dated by a registered architect or engineer, plus a flame-retardant certificate, at least 60 days before move-in. The upper portion of a covered exhibit could not be occupied, and a covered booth over 1,000 square feet that stood for more than seven days or held vehicles, open flame, or hot works needed an interior automatic sprinkler system with a separate permit.

Hanging signs, sound, and flooring

Only islands, split islands, and peninsulas of 400 square feet or more could have a hanging sign, up to 25 feet from the floor to the top of the sign. At least 5 feet of air space had to stay clear between the top of the booth and the bottom of the sign. That clearance left room for a 4-foot sign over a full-height island and an 8-foot sign over a 12-foot structure.

Signs of 200 pounds or more, and all electrical signs, were rigged by the Mandalay Bay Convention Center. Lighter non-electrical signs went through Freeman, the general service contractor (GSC) for 2026.

Booths of 400 square feet or more could use sound equipment as long as, in show management’s judgment, it did not disrupt neighbors, and amplified sound was not to exceed 80 decibels measured from the aisle immediately in front of the booth. Smaller booths could not use any type of sound system or any device that amplifies sound. HD Expo is a no-concrete show, so every booth had to order or bring floor covering that completely covered the cement floor of its space, or Freeman supplied carpet at the exhibitor’s expense.

Contractors and setup labor

The 2026 rules allowed exhibitor-appointed contractors (EACs), with a $300 administrative fee for each booth location an EAC represented, whatever the service. EACs were not allowed on the show floor until every requirement was met. Your full-time employees could set up the booth with proof of employment but could not install electrical hanging signs or truss. Mandalay Bay’s own contractor policies also bar exhibitors and EACs from installing monitors, ground-supported video walls, or LED walls in concrete areas, or assembling ground-supported lighting and truss, and contractors need general liability coverage of $3,000,000 per occurrence on carpet and $5,000,000 on concrete.

Our team designs, rents, and installs booths at Mandalay Bay and other Las Vegas venues, working from a warehouse in North Las Vegas. With your 2027 space booked, send us your HD Expo booth brief and we’ll design and price it. For a booth built around appointments, read our notes on hosting buyer meetings in your booth. To weigh renting against owning, see when renting beats owning an exhibit.