Four days in Indianapolis
The 99th National FFA Convention & Expo runs Wednesday 21 October to Saturday 24 October 2026. The Indiana Convention Center holds the expo and the general sessions. Lucas Oil Stadium holds the American FFA Degree Ceremony and the closing general session. The venue record carries a forecast of 70,000 attendees. Every clock below is Eastern Daylight Time.
Registration and badge pickup sit in Hall A at the Indiana Convention Center. Tuesday 20 October serves 1 to 8 p.m., Wednesday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Thursday and Friday 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday moves to Lucas Oil Stadium for 6:30 to 9 a.m. only.
What a badge costs
Full registration is $95 on the early bird rate until 30 September at 7:59 p.m. The standard rate is $115. The onsite rate is $120 from 20 October at midnight. A single-day badge is $55 for Wednesday to Friday and $30 for Saturday, or $60 and $35 on site. The Saturday daily badge covers the American FFA Degree Ceremony and the seventh general session alone. A lost badge costs $15 to replace.
Event tickets run $75 for the concert, $25 for the hypnotist, $45 for the rodeo and $30 for the career success tours. The rodeo shuttle costs $13 and is sold through convention registration only.
Convention registration and event fees cancel and refund for any reason until 8 p.m. on 30 September. Convention housing closes 23 September at 5 p.m. EDT, and the free-cancellation window closed 2 September at 5 p.m. EDT.
Four nights downtown at the October rate of $134 a night come to $536. Engine reports that average for Indianapolis from 1.2 million public rate observations taken between May 2024 and April 2026, and defines its figures as par rates, the lowest publicly available price at the moment of each search, taken 10 to 180 days before check-in. October is the second-priciest month in the table. May carries the city's peak at $158 a night and February its floor at $107.
Wednesday 21 October
The expo opens at 9 a.m. and closes at 4 p.m. The shopping mall runs 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Opening Session 1A starts at 3:30 p.m. The concert plays Gainbridge Fieldhouse that evening.
The rodeo runs Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at Corteva Coliseum on the Indiana State Fairgrounds. Evening doors open at 5 p.m. and the show starts at 6:30 p.m. A rodeo ticket and a convention badge both gain entry. The round-trip shuttle leaves the Convention Center from Maryland Street, just west of Capitol Avenue, and runs 4 to 10 p.m.
A National Days of Service shift runs noon to 4:30 p.m. Sign-up goes through convention registration.
Thursday 22 October
Three general sessions run: Opening Session 1B at 8 a.m., the Second General Session at 2 p.m., and the Third at 7 p.m. The expo opens 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and the shopping mall 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
National Days of Service shifts run 7:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 12:45 to 5 p.m. A delegate signs up through convention registration. A second service project runs on the expo floor with no registration required.
Career Success Tours take delegates into eight agricultural career areas: agribusiness systems, animal systems, biotechnology systems, environmental service systems, food products and processing systems, natural resources systems, plant systems, and power, structural and technical systems. The ticket costs $30.
Hypnotist Michael C. Anthony performs twice in the Sagamore Ballroom at the Convention Center, at 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Courtesy shuttles run between the Convention Center and the Indiana State Fairgrounds every 15 minutes from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday. Allow 20 minutes one way.
Friday 23 October
The Fourth General Session starts at 8 a.m., the Fifth at 2:30 p.m. and the Sixth at 7 p.m. The expo runs its last day, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. The shopping mall runs 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The National Days of Service shift runs 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
The rodeo adds a matinee. Doors open at noon and the show starts at 1:30 p.m. The evening show repeats with doors at 5 p.m. and a 6:30 p.m. start. Rodeo shuttles run 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Saturday 24 October
The American FFA Degree Ceremony and the Seventh General Session both start at 1:30 p.m. The expo and the shopping mall are closed. Badge pickup runs at Lucas Oil Stadium from 6:30 to 9 a.m. only.
Getting between the two buildings
Skywalks connect the Convention Center and Lucas Oil Stadium to the JW Marriott complex, Indianapolis Marriott Downtown, Westin, Hyatt Regency, Omni Severin, Crowne Plaza and Circle Centre Mall. The venue counts 4,700 rooms on that connected network out of 7,100 downtown rooms.
IndyGo buses leave the Julia M. Carson Transit Center at 201 E. Washington Street. The organiser's travel page puts a $15 minimum charge on every taxi fare from the airport, regardless of distance. Food trucks park on South Street between Lucas Oil Stadium and the Convention Center from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The organiser prints dates for those trucks that fall outside convention week, so confirm the day at the Information Station in the Convention Center Georgia Street lobby.