Exhibiting in California: Anaheim, Los Angeles, San Diego and Moscone

Anaheim Convention Center

• Size: 1.8 million sq ft of function space, over 1 million sq ft of exhibit space; Halls A–E 813,607 sq ft, plus ACC North with two 100,000 sq ft column-free levels.
• Address: 800 W. Katella Avenue.
• Services: Encore is the preferred production partner (AV, rigging); Smart City Networks is the exclusive provider of internet and telecom; electrical through approved contractors.
• Rules to know: single-trip hand-carry, no dollies or carts; no east-side move-in; helium balloons only secured to a fixed object, Mylar balloons never; unapproved tape on the building is charged.
• Labor: a task is the exhibitor's only if one person can do it in under half an hour without tools (GES 2025).

Los Angeles Convention Center

• Halls: South Hall nearly 350,000 sq ft, West Hall 210,685 sq ft, Kentia Hall 160,000 sq ft, plus Concourse and Petree Halls.
• Address: 1201 South Figueroa Street, about 16–17 miles from LAX.
• Services: contractors must come from the venue's authorized list (updated May 2025); catering and internet/telecom have single providers; electrical from approved firms such as Edlen, Freeman and GES.

San Diego Convention Center

• Size: Halls A–H, 525,701 sq ft, with 8 loading dock access points; about three miles from San Diego International Airport.
• Address: 111 W Harbor Drive.
• Freight: "Truck marshalling is not available at the Convention Center site", and the center does not accept show freight: it goes through the show contractor.
• Services: cleaning is exclusive in-house; the center provides no event electrical service itself (approved contractors).
• Rules to know: food samples up to two ounces; no helium balloons handed out; no adhesives, and nothing taped or nailed to walls.
• Labor: exclusive jurisdiction agreement with IATSE Local 122, IBEW Local 569, IUPAT Local 831 and Teamsters Local 542.

Moscone Center, San Francisco

• Size: over 790,000 sq ft of exhibit space; North and South together over 502,000 sq ft contiguous; West 96,660 sq ft on Level 1.
• Address: 747 Howard Street.
• Freight: docks are run by the show contractor; hand-carry only what can be carried in a single trip, no carts through lobbies; no curb parking; no on-site receiving or storage.
• Services: internet and Wi-Fi in-house; "NO customer provided wireless AP or routers are permitted."
• Labor: Sign & Display Local 510 installs exhibits; exhibitors may self-install only if the exhibit is under 10 ft wide, takes under 30 minutes and needs no hand tools (EACA 2024).

What it means for your booth

In California almost every booth needs union labor and contractor freight. That is where costs grow fastest when they are billed by the hour. A BoothJet booth includes union install and teardown, drayage, delivery and power at every California venue, from $3,999 for a 10×10. See booth rental in Anaheim, Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco.

Questions

Related guides

• Exhibiting in Las Vegas: LVCC, Venetian Expo, Mandalay Bay and Caesars Forum
• Union Labor at Trade Shows in Las Vegas and California
• Hidden Trade Show Costs: What Exhibitors Pay Beyond the Booth