2026 HAMILTON EVENT INFO
DRINK EXHIBITOR PORTAL
8 CITIES + 25k PEOPLE = ONE HECK OF A PARTY
SCAMMERS
Important Notice: Beware of Scam Emails
Dear Exhibitors,
In the past, scammers have attempted to deceive our exhibitors by offering a fake attendee list in exchange for payment. These fraudulent emails originate from Gmail accounts and are not legitimate.
Please note that any official correspondence from our team will come from an @iheartbeer.ca email address and will only be sent by Faron, Haben, or Matt. If you receive an email from any other sender, it is not from us.
If you encounter such an email, do not respond. Instead, please mark it as spam and share it with us if possible.
Thank you for your vigilance in helping us maintain a secure and trustworthy event.
IMPORTANT
1 - The event is now ONE day with TWO sessions
2 - Parking is no longer covered in the booth fee, the cost is $7.00 at the recommended lot but you can choose to park anywhere.
3 - Our theme for the year is "Drink Local"
4 - Thanks to our partners, all Hamilton drink exhibitors situated along the main line in the centre of the venue will have access to one power plug for LED lights. So please bring extension cords and a strand of LED lights, the venue can get dark.
5 - Payment for extra supplies and/or rentals can be done directly on the portal in 2026.
NEW
1 - The event is now ONE day with TWO sessions
2 - Parking is no longer covered in the booth fee, the cost is $7.00 at the recommended lot but you can choose to park anywhere.
3 - Our theme for the year is "Drink Local"
4 - Thanks to our partners, all Hamilton drink exhibitors situated along the main line in the centre of the venue will have access to one power plug for LED lights. So please bring extension cords and a strand of LED lights, the venue can get dark.
5 - Payment for extra supplies and/or rentals can be done directly on the portal in 2026.
EVENT INFO
BASIC INFO
- Official Festival Name: 2026 Hamilton I❤️BEER Festival
- Theme(s): Drink Local
- Festival Code: HAM26
- Days: 1
- Festival Date(s): Saturday, February 21st, 2026
- Festival Sessions: 2
- Location: Hamilton Convention Centre (Main Floor)
- Location Address: 1 Summers Ln, Hamilton, ON L8P 4Y2
HOURS
- Event Hours: 12:00 PM to 10:00 PM
- Unloading Hours: 8:00 AM to 11:00 AM
- Setup Hours: 8:00 AM to 11:30 AM
- Teardown Hours: 10:05 PM to 11:55 PM
TOKEN & ATTENDANCE INFO
- Token Value: $2.50 ($2.18 + $0.32 Tax)
- 2026 Venue Capacity: 1,500
- 2026 Projected Attendance: 2,800
- Festival Max Theoretical Attendance: 3,000
DRINK EXHIBITOR FEES
- 10x10 Exhibitor Space: $0 + 40% Revenue Split
EXHIBITOR FEE INCLUSIONS
- Table(s): 1
- Chair(s): 1
- Staff Passes: 2+
- Ice: 4 Bags (20+ Pounds Per Bag)
POWER
Power must be ordered through the venue using the link below. Every year we receive a discount code so please wait till we've secured the code. Once we've gotten a code, we'll post it here along with the deadline date for the discount.
✅ Use Code: "lovebeer26" to Save 25% Till Feb 17th, 2026
✅ Venue Power Form (Must submit for Power): LINK (2026)
✅ Ontario Tradeshow Electrical Standards: LINK
DOWNLOADS
✅ Exhibitor Guide: Available Monday, February 9th
✅ SOP (Special Occasion Permit): Applied, waiting on AGCO
✅ Festival Site Plan (Blank): LINK (2026)
✅ Festival Site Plan (Complete): Available Monday, February 9th
✅ Festival insurance requirements: LINK (2026)
✅ Venue loading dock directions: LINK (2026)
✅ Parking directions from the loading dock: LINK (2026)
PROJECTIONS
*Latest Update: Jan 10th, 2026
* Our last update will be on Wednesday prior to the event.
- Cost Per Token: $2.50
- Max Number of Drink Exhibitors: 18
- Projected dollar spend per Attendee: $20.00
- Projected Samples per Attendee: 8
- Projected Attendance: 2,800 Total
- Projected attendee-to-drink exhibitor ratio: 155:1
- Projected Average Samples per Drink exhibitor: 1,240
- Projected Average Ounces per Drink exhibitor: 6,200 Ounces
- Projected Average Token Sales per Drink exhibitor: $3,100.00
RESULTS
✅ Hamilton : February 7th + February 8th, 2025 - LINK (2025)
✅ Hamilton: February 23rd + February 24th, 2024 - LINK (2024)
✅ Hamilton: February 25th, 2023 - Coming Soon
HISTORY
2026 - Returned to a 1 day event during this period of economic uncertainty.
2025 - Lowered the % Split to 60/40, two years earlier than planned thanks to achieving our 30k ticket sales goal in 2024 and an increase in partnerships. Also expanded the capacity of each session by 100 tickets each for a total of 300 extra tickets for a grand total event capacity of 4,200.
2024 - Event expands to 2 days + 3 sessions. The Saturday sessions sellout but we are short 255 tickets for a Friday sellout.
2023 - The 1-day + 2-session event sells out.
2022 - No event due to covid 19
2021 - No event due to covid 19
2020 - The taco theme becomes a permanent edition of our winter tour. The 1 day + 2 session event sells out.
2019 - Event changed to 1 day + 2 sessions with a taco theme. Event sells out.
2018 - Event changed to one day + 1 session with a bacon theme. Event sells out.
2017 - The first annual Hamilton I Heart Beer festival. The event was a 2 day, 3 session event. The event was focused on beer and food pairings. Turnout was not as high as expected. We planned for 2,500 to 3,000 and only managed to get 1,980 tickets sold.
2016 - I Heart Beer was founded