How Much Does a Booth at The International Surface Event Cost?

Budgeting a booth for The International Surface Event at Mandalay Bay Convention Center comes down to three things: booth size, how much custom build and LED you want, and the Las Vegas show costs that catch first-timers off guard (drayage, labor, electrical). Here are realistic 2026 ranges for an exhibit rental at The International Surface Event.

That band covers the booth, graphics and show services below. It excludes the floor space itself, which you buy from the The International Surface Event organiser.

What our LED costs at The International Surface Event

Most companies quoting The International Surface Event are reselling somebody else's panels and will not put a number in writing. We own and install ours, so here is the actual price list.

Posters join together into walls and the tower's panels build walls too, so an The International Surface Event LED budget often starts as a poster count rather than a square-footage quote. On these rates buying pays back in roughly two shows — see the LED cost guide for the full rent-versus-buy arithmetic.

What The International Surface Event exhibitors actually spend it on

The International Surface Event is a flooring, stone & tile show with roughly 800 exhibitors, and that changes where the money goes. Material-vignette booths, backlit displays and clean sightlines for surface samples.

Timing: The International Surface Event runs each February, and February deadlines sit right after the New Year backlog, when print queues are at their longest — build in an extra week for graphics.

• Custom vs. modular — a rental modular system costs far less than a fully custom build.
• LED video wall — fine-pitch LED is the biggest single upgrade (and the biggest traffic driver).
• Show services at Mandalay Bay Convention Center — Mandalay Bay routes freight through the show's general contractor with standard CWT drayage; the south-Strip location keeps trucking simple from the I-15 and the airport.
• Labor — Union labor handles rigging and electrical; smaller inline booths can often be hand-carried and self-built within the rules.

The Mandalay Bay Convention Center line items exhibitors miss

These land on the official contractor's invoice rather than your booth vendor's, and they are where The International Surface Event budgets break.

• Drayage is billed by weight, round trip — per hundredweight, with a minimum per shipment that is usually 200 lbs. Three 150 lb boxes bill as 600 lbs, not 450. The same freight on one pallet bills about 25% less, which is why everything we ship goes in rolling flight cases. Full breakdown in the drayage guide.
• Electrical is priced by your deadline — advance ordering typically runs 30–50% under floor pricing for the identical drop. Get your LED power draw in writing and order early.
• Docks and routing at Mandalay Bay Convention Center — Ground-level docks feed the convention center directly, making move-in efficient for mid-size islands.
• Plan ahead — It's a long walk from some halls to the docks — stage your crates and tools to avoid mid-show runs.

Ways to cut your The International Surface Event bill

• Consolidate freight into one shipment. Minimums are charged per shipment, so this costs nothing and is decided before anything leaves your building.
• Design for hand assembly. If your own staff is setting up, the working limit is no power tools and no ladders — a booth built to that rule is one you can install yourself. Posters, SEG lightboxes, backwalls and AV placement are generally yours to do; electrical beyond plug-in and anything hanging or ceiling-mounted is not. See the union labor guide.
• Rent the structure, own the LED. If The International Surface Event is one of three or more shows you do a year, the LED pays for itself faster than the booth does.
• Lock graphics early. Artwork is the real clock on every rush job.

Want an exact number for your booth size at The International Surface Event? We'll send a free, itemized quote — usually same day. For the full line-by-line breakdown see our Las Vegas booth cost guide.

What it really costs to exhibit at The International Surface Event: the landed total

Your booth vendor’s quote is one line of the bill. The rest lands on the organiser’s and the official contractor’s invoices, and it is where The International Surface Event budgets break. Below is the whole bill by booth size, built only from figures the organiser or contractor has published; anything they have not published says so and is left out of the total rather than guessed.

10x10: 100 sq ft, 500 lb of freight, 6 labour hours, 1 outlet

10x20: 200 sq ft, 1,000 lb of freight, 12 labour hours, 2 outlets

20x20: 400 sq ft, 2,500 lb of freight, 32 labour hours, 3 outlets

20x30: 600 sq ft, 4,000 lb of freight, 48 labour hours, 4 outlets

What the sources say about those figures:

• Electrical (not published): Edlen Electrical has been the exclusive temporary-power provider at Mandalay Bay since 1999; orders go through mandalaybayexhibitorservices.com, where online orders earn up to a 30% discount; outlet prices are not published outside the ordering site.
• Labour (venue range): install and dismantle labour range published on our labour-cost guide for Las Vegas; the show's kit sets the exact straight-time rate and window

Assumptions are ours, not the show’s: Freight weight is the crated weight of a rental modular SEG or LED kit of that size, including counters and cases; your crate manifest governs and the drayage minimum applies per shipment. Labour hours are total install plus dismantle at straight time for a vendor-installed booth of that size; overtime and double-time premiums apply outside the contractor's straight-time window. Electrical is one 5-amp/120-volt outlet per lit element at the advance-order rate; an LED wall or tower needs its own circuit, which the kit prices separately. Change any of them in the landed-cost estimator. Rates marked as a range are the published range across recent shows at Mandalay Bay Convention Center; your exhibitor service kit governs.

Frequently asked

What is the total cost to exhibit at The International Surface Event including drayage and labor?

For a 10x20 at The International Surface Event, the published figures add up to roughly $7,900–$21,680: exhibit rental $7,000–$20,000, install and dismantle labour $900–$1,680. It excludes floor space from the organiser, material handling (drayage), round trip and electrical, which are not published. The full line-by-line table and the assumptions behind it are in the landed-cost section above.

How much is a booth at The International Surface Event?

A 10x10 rental at The International Surface Event typically runs $3,000–$9,000, a 10x20 $7,000–$20,000, and a 20x20 island $18,000–$45,000 — before show services like drayage and labor at Mandalay Bay Convention Center. We'll send an exact quote for your size.

Does the price include design?

Yes — design and renderings are included in your quote before you commit.

Is renting cheaper than buying?

For one or two shows, renting is almost always cheaper and simpler. If you exhibit often, owning a modular system can pay off — we'll show you both numbers.