Convention Centers in Tennessee With Plans

Tennessee gives organizers a wide spread of convention centers: a large downtown convention center and a resort convention center in Nashville, convention centers in Memphis, Knoxville and Chattanooga, an agricultural expo campus in Memphis, and expo centers and pavilions in Lebanon, Cookeville and East Ridge. Below are Tennessee convention centers and expo venues that already have ready-made floor plans in Map D's Venue Library, grouped by region and linked to their venue pages so you can open a plan and start your booth layout. After the list you will find how to choose between a convention hall, a hotel ballroom and an expo center, what to ask before you sign, and how to turn a venue plan into a show floor you can sell.

Dimensions in this article come from the plans drawn in Map D's Venue Library, not from official venue specifications, so confirm every measurement, column, door and utility location with the venue before you sell a single booth.

How to Use This List of Tennessee Convention Centers

This is not a ranking and not a complete directory of every venue in Tennessee. It is a working list of venues with plans drawn in Map D's library, so you can see the approximate shape of a hall and test a booth layout before your first site visit. Some venues have more than one listing, such as a full exhibit level and a single hall, and those are listed together under the venue.

Each venue page in the Map D venue directory shows the drawn floor plans for that building with their dimensions in feet and a preview of each plan. Choose a hall, select Use This Floor Plan Free, create a free account, and the plan opens in the editor as your starting canvas, ready for booths, aisles, labels and sponsor areas. Treat every plan as a starting point: halls get renovated, airwalls move and service corridors change, so check the drawing against the venue's current plan.

Nashville Convention Centers and Trade Show Venues

Nashville is the most common Tennessee pick for national trade shows and association meetings, because it pairs exhibit space with a destination draw, air access and a deep hotel supply. The options below range from the downtown convention center to a resort convention center and a fairgrounds expo building.

• [Music City Center](/venues/music-city-center-nashville/), Nashville: the drawn plan measures about 1013 x 446 feet. The library also has a second Music City Center listing with a smaller plan of about 255 x 193 feet, which can suit a show that only needs part of the building.
• [Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center](/venues/gaylord-opryland-resort-and-convention-center-nashville/), Nashville: the drawn plan titled "Level 0" measures about 555 x 489 feet. Other Gaylord Opryland listings in the library cover single spaces, including an Exhibit Hall C2 plan (about 220 x 255 feet) and a Ballroom B1-B3 plan (about 295 x 252 feet).
• [The Fairgrounds Nashville](/venues/fairgrounds-nashville-nashville/), Nashville: the drawn plan measures about 252 x 189 feet, a common fit for consumer shows, markets and collectors' expos.

Downtown Nashville hotels also have plans in the library that suit tabletop exhibits and sponsor showcases next to a conference, including the Sheraton Music City (about 249 x 168 feet), the Grand Hyatt Nashville (about 188 x 127 feet), the JW Marriott (about 168 x 109 feet), the Omni Nashville Hotel (about 126 x 146 feet) and the Capitol Ballroom at the Sonesta Nashville Hotel (about 116 x 207 feet).

Franklin, Lebanon and the Nashville Suburbs

• [Franklin Marriott Cool Springs](/venues/franklin-marriott-cool-springs-franklin/), Franklin: the drawn plan measures about 111 x 128 feet. The library also has a plan for the Embassy Suites Nashville South in Cool Springs (about 144 x 88 feet).
• [Farm Bureau Expo Center](/venues/farm-bureau-exposition-center-lebanon/), Lebanon: the drawn plan titled "Halls West & East" measures about 188 x 235 feet. A second listing for the same expo center has a plan titled "Halls 1 & 2" of about 220 x 250 feet, so ask the venue which halls and configuration you would rent.
• Lebanon also has two smaller event center plans in the library at Tuckers Gap (about 96 x 87 feet each), sized for small vendor fairs and meetings.

Memphis Convention Centers and Expo Venues

Memphis works for regional shows that draw from Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi, and its agricultural expo campus is a natural fit for farm and equipment shows.

• [Renasant Convention Center](/venues/renasant-convention-center-memphis/), Memphis: the drawn plan measures about 313 x 231 feet.
• [Agricenter International](/venues/agricenter-international-memphis/), Memphis: the drawn plan measures about 556 x 438 feet. Ask which building and which indoor and outdoor areas the plan covers before you lay out booths.

East Tennessee: Knoxville, Chattanooga and the Tri-Cities

• [Knoxville Convention Center](/venues/knoxville-convention-center-knoxville/), Knoxville: the drawn plan measures about 183 x 130 feet. The library also has a plan for the Crowne Plaza Knoxville (about 104 x 82 feet).
• [Chattanooga Convention Center](/venues/chattanooga-convention-center-chattanooga/), Chattanooga: the drawn plan measures about 274 x 326 feet.
• [Camp Jordan Arena](/venues/camp-jordan-arena-east-ridge/), East Ridge: the drawn plan measures about 146 x 216 feet.
• In the Tri-Cities, the library has a plan for the Taylor Ballroom at the Holiday Inn Johnson City (about 64 x 129 feet), a tabletop-sized space.

Middle Tennessee Expo Centers

• [Hyder Burks Pavilion](/venues/hyder-burks-pavilion-cookeville/), Cookeville: the drawn plan measures about 349 x 291 feet, a size that suits ag expos, equipment shows and large consumer shows on the Interstate 40 corridor.

How to Choose a Tennessee Convention Center for a Trade Show

The right venue fits your booth count, your exhibitors' freight and your attendees' travel at a cost the show can carry. Work through these points before you shortlist, and use our step-by-step guide on how to plan a trade show for the full timeline.

1. Start From Your Booth Count and Booth Sizes

Estimate how many exhibitors you expect and which booth sizes they buy. A planning assumption many organizers use is that booths take a little under half of the gross hall area once aisles, entrances, registration, food and lounges are added, but your ratio depends on the layout and the fire marshal's rules. Our guide to standard trade show booth sizes, the trade show aisle width guide and the booth capacity calculator help you turn a booth count into the space you need.

2. Convention Hall, Resort Ballroom or Expo Center

• Convention exhibit hall: Concrete floors, high ceilings, dock access and floor ports or utility boxes. Best for large booths, heavy displays, vehicles and shows where freight is handled by a contractor.
• Resort or hotel ballroom: Carpeted, lower ceilings, often divided by airwalls, usually with food and beverage minimums and a room block. Suits association meetings, tabletop exhibits and sponsor showcases next to sessions.
• Expo center, pavilion or fairgrounds building: Flexible, often lower cost, sometimes with outdoor space or barns next door. Good for consumer shows, markets, livestock and ag expos; check climate control, restrooms and power, which matter in a Tennessee summer.

3. Load-In, Docks and Freight

Ask how many docks and drive-in doors the space has, whether exhibitors can hand-carry, who controls the docks, and how long the move-in and move-out windows are. Resort venues often route freight through shared back-of-house corridors, so ask how far the dock is from your hall. Build your exhibitor move-in schedule around those answers, and use our questions to ask a general service contractor if the venue requires an official contractor.

4. Fire Code, Columns and Utilities

Columns, exits, fire hose cabinets and electrical access shape where booths can go. Mark them on the venue plan before you number booths, and review the fire marshal floor plan requirements so you know what the local authority will expect on your submitted plan.

5. Costs, Exclusives and Hotels

Compare rent, catering minimums, exclusive services, security, cleaning and whether move-in days are charged. For shows with out-of-town exhibitors, ask whether the venue or nearby hotels require a hotel room block. Our breakdown of how much it costs to rent a convention center lists the line items to request in every quote.

Questions to Ask a Tennessee Venue Before You Sign

Use this short list on site visits, and see our full list of questions to ask an event venue for contracts and costs.

1. What are the exact usable dimensions of the space we would rent, and can you send a current CAD or PDF plan?
2. Where are the columns, exits, utility ports and fire equipment, and which areas must stay clear?
3. How many docks and drive-in doors are available to us during move-in and move-out, and who schedules them?
4. Which services are exclusive to the venue (electrical, internet, rigging, food, cleaning), and what do they cost?
5. What are the floor load and ceiling height limits for exhibitor displays?
6. Is there a food and beverage minimum or a hotel room block tied to the rental?
7. Are move-in and move-out days charged at the full rate?
8. What other events are in the building on our dates, and how will docks, parking and signage be shared?

From Venue Plan to Booth Layout

1. Open the venue in the Map D venue directory and choose the plan closest to the space you will actually rent.
2. Check the drawn plan against the venue's current plan and adjust walls, columns, doors and service areas.
3. Block out registration, food, lounges, stages, emergency exits and fire equipment clearances before adding booths.
4. Lay booths and aisles in standard sizes and number them in a logical order so exhibitors and staff can find them.
5. Price booths by size and location, mark sponsor and premium spots, and hold booths for returning exhibitors.
6. Send the layout to the venue and the fire marshal for review before you open booth sales.

When the layout is approved, trade show management software connects the map to booth sales, exhibitor tasks and invoices, and event floor plan software keeps one version of the map that sales, operations and exhibitors all work from. Planning in a neighboring state? See the companion lists of convention centers in Georgia and convention centers in North Carolina.

Common Mistakes When Picking a Tennessee Venue

• Booking by headline size without subtracting columns, service areas and required clearances.
• Assuming the drawn plan matches the room today without asking the venue for a current plan.
• Picking a Nashville date without checking what else is in town, which can squeeze hotel rooms and rates.
• Leaving move-in and move-out days out of the budget and the schedule.
• Choosing a ballroom for exhibitors who need forklift delivery or vehicles on the floor.
• Booking an expo building for a summer show without confirming climate control.
• Selling booths before the fire marshal has reviewed the layout.

Where Map D Fits

Map D is floor plan and booth sales software for organizers. Starting from a venue plan saves the time of tracing a hall from a PDF: you open the plan, then add booths, aisles, sponsor areas and labels in the editor. When the layout is ready, paid plans let you publish an interactive map, share it with exhibitors and sell booths online. Map D does not book venues or replace the venue's official plan, so keep the venue and the fire marshal in the loop on every revision.