Sea-Air-Space · Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center · April

Sea-Air-Space Trade Show Booth Rentals

430 defense contractors and naval programs are on the floor. Yours has to read like a program of record.

Fixed-price Sea-Air-Space exhibits — design, fabrication, graphics, freight, installation and dismantle in one number that doesn’t move. Pre-built, lit and photo-approved before it ships, so the booth representing your program to Navy, Marine Corps and industry leadership has already stood up once.

Booth Finder

Filters the booths below — every one shows its National Harbor price.

April 4-7, 2027Show dates · auto-updated
Gaylord National Resort & Convention CenterVenue
National HarborCity
Advance orders close ~Feb 7, 2027
430+Exhibitors on the floor
Maritime Defense& naval technology programs
24 hrConcepts and a fixed quote back
1Project manager, end to end
Built for defense & technology brands

The kind of booth a defense audience takes seriously

Sea-Air-Space is walked by Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard leadership, program managers and the defense contractors and technology firms competing for their attention — an audience that reads a booth the way it reads a proposal, for substance first. The work below is what we build for defense and technology brands: custom structures with real capability demonstrations, not decoration, moving through one team from first rendering to dismantle.

Know the floor before you plan the booth

Sea-Air-Space isn’t a trade show. It’s a service audience.

Sea-Air-Space brings uniformed leadership, program offices and the defense-industrial base together at the Gaylord National, in an environment where credentials, security awareness and substance outrank spectacle. The booths that win here demonstrate a capability an officer can evaluate on sight, not a graphic that just looks impressive from the aisle.

Gaylord National is a resort, not a fairground

Resort-venue logistics

Your freight doesn’t roll up to a convention-center dock — it moves through a resort’s marshalling and dock schedule, with target times set by the show’s general contractor. Miss your window and your crate waits while your labour clock runs. We build the freight plan to the Gaylord National’s rhythm, book the target time early and have supervision at the dock when the truck arrives.

A credentialed, substance-first audience

Defense contractors & naval technology

Program managers and uniformed leadership move through the floor on a tight schedule and evaluate exhibitors the way they evaluate a proposal — capability first, polish second. The winning booth gives them somewhere to sit down, a system or platform they can actually see work, and privacy for the conversation that follows. A booth that’s all graphics and no substance reads as exactly that.

The April calendar problem

Government fiscal-year timing

An early-April show means advance orders close roughly eight weeks out — the exact date is in the facts strip at the top of this page. That window lands as many defense budgets and contract awards are still moving through year-end government processes, so approvals on your side can run slower than production allows. Start the conversation early and build in the margin.

What we handle at Sea-Air-Space
  • Layout designed for capability demonstrations and private meeting space
  • Layout submission and show approval, filed early
  • Electrical, rigging and material handling calculated and filed at advance rates
  • Union labour coordination and on-site supervision
  • COI, EAC and exhibitor-manual deadlines mapped to our calendar
  • Gaylord National dock target times, dismantle, pack and outbound freight
Billed by the show, not by us

Booth space, electrical, drayage, rigging and cleaning are billed to every exhibitor directly by the show — no exhibit house can absorb them and none should claim to. What we do is calculate them for your exact booth before you commit, and file every order at advance rather than floor rates.

  • Booth space
  • Electrical drops and floor distribution
  • Material handling (drayage)
  • Rigging, if you’re hanging a sign
  • Daily cleaning · internet
Why a fixed price matters most here

The budget you present to procurement should survive April

A defense-industry marketing budget answers to a contracts office or a program’s overhead approval — and exhibit-house invoices are exactly where budgets go to grow: labour hours over estimate, revisions rebilled as change orders, graphics reprints, supervision time nobody flagged. Our model is the opposite — the number you approve is the number you pay, contractually. Design revisions are unlimited until you approve. The quote and the final invoice are the same document.

01

One number, and it holds

Design, fabrication, graphics, furniture, lighting, freight, installation, dismantle and project management in a single fixed price.

02

Proven before it ships

Your booth stands fully assembled and lit at our 65,000 sq ft facility, and you approve photographs of the actual build — not a render.

03

Show costs, known up front

Space, electrical, drayage and rigging calculated for your exact booth before you commit — so the total is a number, not a range.

04

The paperwork is ours

COI, EAC, electrical, rigging, freight windows — filed at advance rates, mapped to every exhibitor-manual deadline. Nothing lands on your desk three days before it’s due.

We quote higher and cost less. That’s the whole argument, and it’s why every booth below is published with its price rather than hidden behind a “request a quote” form.

Available for Sea-Air-Space

Sea-Air-Space-ready booths, with real prices

Every booth below is priced for National Harbor and available as a custom build for your brand — rented, not bought. Use the finder at the top of the page to narrow by size and budget.

Or jump straight to your footprint

One click — the catalog opens already filtered to your size and National Harbor pricing.

Working backwards from early April

Your real deadline is in February

The advance-order cutoff lands roughly eight weeks before the show — the exact date is in the facts strip at the top of this page, and it updates automatically each edition. For Sea-Air-Space that puts the binding constraint in early February — before it, contracts and internal approvals still have room to move; after it, you’re paying floor rates while the paperwork catches up.

NOV–DECBrief, concepts and the fixed price locked. Full design freedom.
JANUARYLayout submitted for show approval — floor placement confirmed.
LATE JANGraphics finalised and sent to production.
EARLY FEBAdvance orders close. Design locked; electrical, rigging and drayage filed at advance rates.
LATE FEBFreight window and Gaylord National dock target time booked.
MARCHBooth built, lit and photographed for your approval.
SHOW WEEKCrew installs in your move-in slot. You walk in at handover.
Take this to every vendor

Five questions to ask anyone quoting your Sea-Air-Space booth

Put these to every exhibit house you’re comparing — including us. They separate the vendors that stand behind a number from the ones whose estimate is an opening position. Our answers are printed here so you can hold us to them.

1 Will you put the total price in writing before I sign — and hold it? Ours: yes. Every booth on this page is published with its price. The quote and the final invoice are the same number, contractually — a hard requirement when a contracts office signs off on the budget. Printed above · hold us to it
2 Do design revisions become change orders? Ours: never. Revisions are unlimited until you approve, and the price is locked before design starts — a required message change in January costs nothing.
3 Will I see my actual booth before it ships — or a render? Ours: the actual booth, fully assembled and lit at our facility, photographed for your sign-off before it travels to National Harbor. Renders are promises; photographs are evidence.
4 Who files my advance show orders, and at which rate? Ours: we do, at advance rates, mapped to every exhibitor-manual deadline. With approvals often moving slowly on the government side of this show, the advance-versus-floor spread is real money — if a vendor can’t answer this immediately, that’s your answer.
5 What happens if my internal or contract approval runs long? Ours: we build margin into the schedule from the first call specifically because defense-side sign-offs can move slower than a typical commercial approval. Your booth is still photo-approved with weeks to spare. Any vendor working to a schedule with no slack is gambling with a process they don’t control. Ask them directly.
In their words

What event managers say after the show

★★★★★
“They never just build the booth and disappear — I always know I have someone on call and ready to jump in when the unexpected inevitably happens. That level of responsiveness makes a huge difference in high-pressure event environments.”
Amanda Horner · Three years of booth programmes · Google Review
★★★★★
“I’ve worked with Pure Exhibits for almost a year now, and have had such a great experience! They are our go-to for trade shows, and create memorable booths that represent our brand well. The team is incredibly responsive and reliable.”
Lexi von Schottenstein · Google Review
★★★★★
“It’s always a pleasure to work with Utsav. The process is simple, straightforward, and high quality. I have worked with them for 3 years now and will continue!”
Carlos Bautista · Three-year client · Google Review
★★★★★
“Their team is incredibly flexible throughout the design process and truly collaborative in bringing ideas to life. I highly recommend Pure Exhibits to anyone looking for a reliable, thoughtful, and experienced exhibit partner.”
Amanda Horner · Google Review
Questions Sea-Air-Space exhibitors actually ask

Sea-Air-Space booth rental FAQs

How much does a Sea-Air-Space booth rental cost?
Every booth on this page is published with its National Harbor price — fixed and all-inclusive: design, fabrication, graphics, furniture, freight, labour coordination and project management. Separately, the show bills you directly for booth space, electrical, drayage, rigging and cleaning; we calculate those for your exact booth before you commit, so the total is known before you sign anything — which matters when the number has to clear a contracts office.
When should I book a booth for Sea-Air-Space?
Lock your design before the advance-order cutoff, roughly eight weeks out — the exact date for the next edition is in the facts strip at the top of this page and updates automatically. Because internal and contract approvals on the government and defense side often take longer than a typical commercial sign-off, start the conversation as early as possible so the schedule has margin built in.
What’s different about moving into the Gaylord National?
It’s a resort venue, so freight runs through a marshalling and dock process on target times set by the show’s general contractor rather than a drive-up convention-center dock. Miss your slot and your crates wait while the labour clock runs. We book the dock target time early, plan the freight to the Gaylord National’s schedule and have our supervisor on site when the truck arrives.
Our exhibit needs private space for classified or sensitive conversations. Can the booth support that?
Yes. Enclosed rooms, controlled sightlines and screened meeting areas are standard requests on this floor and are engineered into the layout from the first concept, not added as an afterthought. What can and can’t be discussed in a given space remains your program’s call — we build the room, you set the rules for what happens in it.
Will a rental look custom, or will it look reused?
Every booth is fabricated for your brand — custom graphics, layout, lighting and finishes on a modular structure underneath. The builds shown above are rentals. Before yours ships, it stands fully assembled and lit at our facility and you approve photographs of the actual booth, not a render.
Can I install the booth myself to save on labour?
National Harbor show floors run on contracted union labour, and the show’s general contractor governs who may build what. Either way it isn’t your problem to arrange: labour coordination and on-site supervision are inside our fixed price, filed at advance rather than floor rates.
What happens if something goes wrong during move-in?
Your project manager and our install supervisor are on site through move-in and reachable across show days. Because everything was assembled and checked before shipping, the problems that usually surface at this stage — missing hardware, graphics that don’t fit, panels that won’t seat — have already been found and fixed on our floor, weeks earlier.
A vendor just fell through. How fast can you deliver a Sea-Air-Space booth?
Four to six weeks from approval to show floor for complete pre-built, photo-verified booths from 10×10 through 20×40 — at the same fixed price as a six-month lead time, with no rush surcharge. If your approval process just cleared later than planned, this is the option that still gets you on the floor.
Fixed pricing · Pre-built & photo-approved · Full-service support

Exhibit at Sea-Air-Space with zero surprises.

Tell us your footprint, what your booth needs to demonstrate, and how much private meeting space your program requires. You’ll have design concepts and one fixed price back within 24 hours — including what the show will bill you directly.

Or call us directly — (800) 379-8451