Dulles Expo & Conference Center

After 30 years, Husbear knows not to tell me everything about an outing with friends. Leaving out details like «we’re going to this massive home show at an expo center that will be overrun with a million people who will push and shove like it’s Time’s Square and you’re invisibile» would have had me running for the hills. I am NOT a social person. I AM an engineer. But I digress.
We find this place easily enough because really, it’s hard to miss in the middle of a suburban shopping center. Our friend Just Jack insisted we get there early. Just Jack is smart as heck and when he says «be there by a certain time», he’s right. He got free tickets in the mail, and we strolled in like we owned the joint. Seriously, no waiting. There was a nice little hamburger/​whatever snack thing on the right. I don’t care, I ignored that and made a beeline for the coffee and got a triple shot of espresso with steamed milk. You don’t think I fake a cheerful mien without chemical assistance do you?
Even by 11 am, this thing was a zoo of biblical proportions and I mean circus animals running amok amok amok. The Property Brothers were going to be on at 1 pm, and you know anybody on television is a draw, let alone if they’re tall, handsome Canadian guys who are singing Country music. Rhymes with «hit show»
We started wandering the aisles, and I was surprised — for an home and garden expo, I was totally into it. Maybe triple shot espresso was kicking in, but I was enjoying myself and was suppressing my usual hatred of crowds. I even bought «My Pillow» which actually is every bit as good as the ads claim. No kidding.
We picked up a ton of useful information for a couple of remodeling projects we need to for a bathroom, retaining walls, and kitchen counters. We didn’t see Drew and Jonathan: that was some crazy fan club action going on.
Husbear and Just Jack had their fill and suggeted cutting out and getting some nice Lebanese food as a snack, so we headed out. I realized I actually did talk politely to strangers who were asking me about the pillows that I bought. Quite the unusual day for the curmudgeonly engineer.

Parking for Home and Garden Show this weekend is a nightmare. Gave up trying on Saturday … forced to return next day instead, arriving an hour early.
To further exacerbate the situation, there is reserved parking for exhibitors in front of the building including consumption of Handicapped spaces. (IMO, Exhibitors should park to the side of the building.)

Dulles Expo & Conference Center is a large facility located in shopping center with Shadowland, Italian Gourmet Deli, and Two Amigos. The interior looks like a warehouse — with concrete floors and off white brick walls. Inside this facility, they sell hot dog, pretzel, and hot/​iced beverage. They have a large parking lot. However, with a show like the International Gem and Jewelry Show or Sugarloaf Arts & Crafts Festival, it may be hard to find a parking space if you arrive late.

I went to the Home and Garden show and it was great lots of stuff with excellent deals. Will absolutely go again when I will have other remodeling projects!!!

The Expo is really easy to get to, but because it relies so heavily on Rt. 66 and Rt. 28, you’re at the mercy of traffic on how long it takes to get there. It’s also odd that it’s in a shopping center. Odd, but convenient at least for attendees to have different food options nearby. Parking is plentiful, unlike other Convention Centers and Conference Centers in the area (*cough* Baltimore Convention Center and Gaylord Hotel and Conference*cough*)
I go here twice a year for the Super Pet Expo and the National Capital Cat Show. I’m usually a vendor for at least one of them.
It sort stinks that as a vendor, I have to park in a gravel parking lot. I completely understand leaving the prime parking locations to the attendees, but gravel? You can’t give me a paved lot?

Got free tickets to the Craftsmen’s Spring Classic Art & Craft Festival.
Plenty of free parking. The Dulles Expo is convenient for me, since it’s close to home. We found some cool stuff. Home made jam, flavored olive oil, and sand pendulums were some of my favorite items. They served as wonderful gifts. The conference center itself is OK. The building needs some maintenance work. Employees are friendly enough. It’s spacious in here.

The Dulles Expo & Conference Center is in close proximity to the Dulles Technology Corridor, or «Netplex», as dubbed by Fortune Magazine. Northern Virginia is internationally recognized for it’s achievements in the tech industry and making the world a more modern place.
So why is the Dulles Expo & Conference Center the antithesis of all these things? In short, it’s an antiquated mess. Northern Virginia is one of the most affluent areas of the county and this is the best we can come up with?
The parking is a mess after 11 a.m. on event days, the bathrooms weren’t designed to meet the demand and the shopping center wasn’t designed to accommodate the volume of people that come through.
I remember when Virginia was still considered the county– we paved over it and we’ve all moved on. So Dulles Expo, stop playing with your sheep and get to work. We expect more from you…

WTF. Home and remodeling show. WTF all the exhibitors parked on the prime parking just outside the doors meaning paying customers had to park in the back of the lot or take the shuttle.

We come here often for various shows. There is ample parking which is great. Price for shows varies depending on the show. Nothing really to ride home about, it’s a pretty generic conference center and similar to many others in the area, but also nothing to complain about. As the Unilocal rating goes, it’s a-​okay.

My first visit to Dulles Expo Center was the gun-​show. Oddly enough it’s not as big as I thought it’d be. The vendors seemed to have plenty of loading dock space however which I’m sure made their lives easier. The parking lot is very large — I’m sure able to accommodate whatever event is there given the actual space. See Chris S’s review as well regarding restrooms — tiny for the size of the venue. Many people appreciated the few coffee type stands which were kept pretty busy. Otherwise, this place was pretty unremarkable — seen much better (Seattle convention center), seen worse.
Big, indoor space.

My only complaint is the bathroom is somewhat small when compaired to other venues for the number of people that are in the building. Other then that the place is well organized, tempature controlled and easy to get to.

Gun & Ammo show 2day
This the place where you come to see the Gun Show, DC Flea Market, Sports Memoroblia and Arts & Craft shows.
There is no charge for parking but for events like the Gun show, either get there early or be prepared to hike from your parking spot to the entry.
There were formally two buildings but now the one closest to Route 28 is a Super Center Walmart.

Been here a few times over the years, good place, everything is always well managed. Some decent places to eat right in the area. Parking can be pretty bad though if you get to your event late.

Super easy to get to, as it’s right off Route 28 near Route 50. Plenty of basic, unadorned space. Went to a gun show here, which was pretty cool. Plenty of parking and convenient, nearby restaurants to choose from.

Wow this place is big, need to do a huge conference? Having a gun show with thousands expected to attend? this is your place to go. Lots of space for just about anything you can think of

I’ve been here a few times in the past; it’s still a big building with lots of room for display stalls. There’s quite a bit of parking.
As I recall, the building that will soon be a Wal-​Mart used to be part of the Dulles Expo & Conference Center, but no more.
There’s a «café» inside, but the food is VERY basic, and somewhat industrial.

Participated in a conference held here one rainy week of April. The Expo Center is fairly easy to get to from 50. The venue was set up rather nicely. Plenty of free parking, so that was a special perk. I commuted up from the DC area where free parking is almost nonexistent. There was a coffee vendor set up inside — this really hit the spot after coming in from the rain. The only downfall is that the room set up for the keynote speakers and town hall meetings was extremely small for a conference of this magnitude. Many people were left standing. This may not have been much of an issue if the projectors showed the speakers, rather than just the title of the conference.
Overall, I would recommend the Dulles Expo for conferences, exhibits and other like venues.

The Dulles Expo Center is conveniently located right off of Willard Road in Chantilly. It’s a pretty large facility. Basically — an Expo Center is a big shell of a building. If one were to enter when no activity is scheduled — it would be a big plain looking concrete box. The venue consists of two large buildings — so up to two separate activities can and often are going on at the same time.
I live just down the road in Centreville, so attending events here is extremely cool. They usually have a number of food and drink vendors — nothing exciting — although have Seattle’s Best Coffee on hand is cool.
I’ve been here for several events, including a Home and Garden Show, an outdoor fishing and hunting expo, and the Sugarloaf Crafts Festival.
Good place to hold a large event!

Ever hear those «Market Pro Show And Sale» ads on WJFK? Well, this is where that show is held, as well as some other great shopping/​expo/​show type events. One that I try to hit every time it is at Dulles Expo is the Sugarloaf Craft Festival which features 300 – 500 artisans of contemporary crafts and fine art (jewelry, paintings, carvings, etc).
Also, something called Dani’s Duds is here twice a year in the fall and spring, It is a huuuuuuge children’s consignment sale with clothes, toys, strollers, baby equipment and more.
At the larger shows, the expo has standard stadium food like hotdogs and sandwhiches. Nothing great. I recommend hitting a place called Whitlows — an awesome BBQ joint right around the corner for lunch.
I checked the schedule and saw that there will be a Christmas Craft Market at the Expo in a few weeks. Seeing that I am all about craft shows, I’m planning on going.