SEMA Show Opens Tuesday in Las Vegas: 2,000 Brands, a Renovated Convention Center, and a Friday the Public Can Walk
The automotive aftermarket takes over the Las Vegas Convention Center from Tuesday through Friday. The 2026 SEMA Show is the first in the building since its $600 million renovation, streams 32 hours live for fans who cannot get in — and opens its doors to the public, once, on Friday.
Election Day is also opening day for the biggest trade week on Las Vegas's fall calendar. The 2026 SEMA Show runs Tuesday, November 3 through Friday, November 6 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, bringing together more than 2,000 participating brands across more than 1 million net square feet of exhibit space, according to SEMA. Six automakers are among the exhibitors — Ford, Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Stellantis and Mitsubishi, which is making its first official appearance at the show since 2012, according to The Weekly Driver's guide read by the desk. A SEMA study released in October puts the specialty-equipment industry's annual U.S. economic impact at $383 billion, supporting 1.25 million jobs.
This year's show is the first held in the convention center since its $600 million renovation of the North, Central and South halls, which added a glass-walled Grand Lobby and an indoor concourse linking the halls. For fans who are not in the trade, SEMA is streaming the week: SEMA Live, presented by AutoZone, will deliver 32 hours of coverage from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific each day, hosted by Chris Jacobs with reports from JC Fernandez and Christy Lee, carrying product reveals, builder interviews and demonstrations across the show's YouTube and Facebook channels, according to SEMA's announcement.
The public's one door opens at the end of the week. Tuesday through Thursday are restricted to qualified members of the automotive aftermarket and credentialed media; on Friday, November 6, anyone 16 or older can buy a ticket — $130, or $170 combined with SEMA Fest, the closing concert headlined by The Offspring — and walk the same floor, with no tickets sold at the door. Friday closes with the SEMA Cruise, the parade of show vehicles departing the convention center, which SEMA Live will also carry. For the valley, it is a four-day reminder that the car business's biggest room sits on Paradise Road.
