Filter the Live 2026 Calendar
The calendar below carries every confirmed 2026 date on file, filterable by state, by month, and viewable as a list, a month grid, or a map.
Live Schedule Feed
Switch to Calendar View and step through 2026 month by month. Confirmed dates are pulled from our national calendar, which is updated as promoters publish and verify them. If the calendar is empty for your area, no dates have been confirmed yet — we do not publish unverified listings.
The Shape of the Gun Show Year
Show density is not flat across the year. The general pattern across most of the country looks like this:
| Period | Activity | What drives it |
|---|---|---|
| January – March | Heavy | Post-holiday buying, tax refund season, indoor venues are comfortable, and the industry year opens |
| April – May | Heavy | Spring peak; several of the largest destination shows land here |
| June – August | Light | Summer lull. Heat, vacations, and competition from outdoor events. Non-air-conditioned fairgrounds are unpleasant |
| September – October | Heavy | Fall peak, driven hard by hunting season preparation |
| November – December | Moderate to heavy | Holiday buying, then a sharp drop the last two weeks of December |
This is a general pattern, not a rule. Warm-weather states with air-conditioned expo halls run through the summer without much of a dip, and some regional promoters deliberately schedule into the quiet months precisely because there is less competition.
Planning Your Year Around the Calendar
If you attend more than two or three shows a year, it pays to plan rather than react. A workable approach:
- Pick one destination show. One large regional or national show per year, planned months ahead with travel booked early, will out-deliver six local shows combined for selection and for anything collectible.
- Anchor the rest around hunting season. September and October shows are where hunting-adjacent gear, optics and ammunition concentrate. If that is your use case, that is your window.
- Use the January–March block for consumables. Post-holiday is when vendors are clearing inventory and the competitive pressure between tables is highest.
- Treat summer as opportunistic. Fewer shows, but also fewer attendees, which means more vendor attention and more room to negotiate.
For any show that requires a hotel, book as soon as the date is confirmed. Large shows fill nearby lodging months out, and the price difference between booking early and booking late around a major show is substantial.
How Promoters Set the 2026 Calendar
Understanding how the schedule gets built explains why some dates are locked a year ahead and others appear six weeks out.
Established promoters running a circuit of ten to sixty shows a year book venue dates far in advance — often securing the same weekend at the same venue on a recurring annual basis. Those dates are stable and publishable early. Crossroads of the West, for example, runs roughly sixty shows a year across a multi-state circuit, which only works with venue contracts locked well ahead.
Small independent operators running two to six shows a year work on much shorter timelines, competing for the leftover weekends at county fairgrounds and armories against every other event in the county. Those dates firm up late, which is why regional calendars fill in progressively rather than all at once.
A practical consequence: if a state looks empty for the back half of 2026, it is usually because the small operators have not confirmed yet, not because the season is over.
Reading a Gun Show Calendar Entry
Every properly formed listing should carry six things. If any are missing, treat the listing as unverified:
- Exact dates. Both days, not just the month or "first weekend."
- Venue name and street address. City alone is not enough — metros rotate between multiple halls.
- Promoter name. Your route to verification and to booking a table.
- Hours for each day. Saturday and Sunday hours are rarely the same.
- Admission terms. Whether it is per-day or a weekend pass, and any discounts for seniors, children, military or law enforcement.
- Table count or approximate size. The single best predictor of whether the drive is worth it.
Other Views of the Same Data
| You want | Go to |
|---|---|
| State-by-state structure and how schedules are published | 2026 Gun Show Schedule |
| Whatever is closest to you right now | Gun Shows Near Me |
| This coming Saturday and Sunday | Gun Shows This Weekend |
| Next year, for early travel planning | 2027 Gun Show Schedule |
| The destination shows worth traveling for | Biggest Gun Shows in the US |