Three and a half hours on Sunday, three on Monday
The Portland National College Fair runs Sunday 18 October 2026, 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Pacific, and Monday 19 October, 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Pacific. Both sessions sit in Hall D at the Oregon Convention Center, 777 NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd. The venue lists the fair as free and open to the public.
Sixteen and a half hours separate the Sunday close from the Monday open.
What a representative carries in
NACAC publishes exhibitor terms for the national fairs. Representatives arrive 30 minutes before the start and stay for the whole programme. Three representatives staff a booth at one time. Literature stays inside the booth footprint.
Displays reach eight feet in the rear half of the booth, and four feet forward of that line to the aisle. The decorator receives freight and places boxes at the booth on set-up day, and the venue in most cases refuses shipments. NACAC asks representatives to carry the tracking number to the fair.
The booth fee for Fall 2026 national fairs runs $825 for NACAC members and $1,045 for non-members.
The venue publishes a cashless rule for the building. NACAC's exhibitor FAQ sends parking, hotel, set-up time and shipping details from the event manager.
The gap the room covers
Sunday ends at 4:30 p.m. Monday opens at 9:00 a.m. A representative who carries stock out of Hall D at 4:30 p.m. needs somewhere for it until the Monday open.
The venue rents short-term storage through LocketGo. Lockers stand in the MLK Lobby, the Holladay Lobby and the Ginkoberry Concourse, and a guest reserves one with a phone and a credit card. A locker takes a coat and a laptop bag.
A room holds the cartons and the calls. Wi-Fi is complimentary in the lobbies and meeting rooms, with paid service at $12 per day for Basic and $50 per day for Business Class.
The blocks near Hall D
The hotelslots.org Portland directory lists 278 hotels. Twenty-one entries carry a 97232 ZIP code, spanning thirteen properties.
On a straight line from 777 NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, four properties sit inside a quarter mile: Hyatt Regency Portland at 375 NE Holladay St at 0.19 miles, Inn at the Convention Center at 420 NE Holladay St at 0.20, Hotel Eastlund at 1021 NE Grand Ave at 0.23, and Motel 6 at 518 NE Holladay St at 0.23. Quality Inn Downtown Convention Center at 431 NE Multnomah follows at 0.31, Courtyard by Marriott Portland Downtown/Convention Center at 435 NE Wasco St at 0.36, and DoubleTree by Hilton Portland at 1000 NE Multnomah St at 0.54.
The published day rates
The dayuse.com Portland page, read at 18:50 UTC on 18 October 2026, lists 19 properties across the Portland area with a published day rate. Each card publishes its own windows.
Royal Sonesta Portland Downtown lists $107 against a $170 comparative rate, 42 percent lower, with 1:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. among five windows. The Nines lists $159 against $450, 67 percent lower, with 1:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. among four. Jupiter Original lists $89 against $150, 45 percent lower, on 5:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. and 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Kimpton Hotel Vintage Portland lists $135 against $230, 46 percent lower, on 12:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
On a straight line from the venue, Jupiter Original reads 0.53 miles, Jupiter Next 0.50, Embassy Suites by Hilton Portland Downtown 0.63, Royal Sonesta 0.85 and The Nines 0.91.
The hours to book against
Sunday needs 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. The Nines covers it on the 1:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. window. Royal Sonesta covers it on 1:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. and again on 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
The reset after the close runs from 4:30 p.m. Jupiter Original, Royal Sonesta and Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites Portland - Jantzen Beach each publish a window that ends at 10:00 p.m. or later.
Monday needs 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Embassy Suites by Hilton Portland Downtown opens at 9:00 a.m. on a 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. window at $130.85 against $228.15. Hyatt Place Portland Airport/Cascade Station opens at 9:30 a.m. at $111 against $229. The Ramada by Wyndham Portland opens at 5:00 a.m. at $91 against $200.
Price against the night
hotelSlots publishes its own range on the home page: day rates run 30 to 75 percent below the nightly rate, the platform charges no booking fee, and it lists 103,857 hotels across 46 states.
Against a $170 comparative rate, the Royal Sonesta day card reads $107. Against $150, the Jupiter Original card reads $89. Each card prices hours inside the day.
Parking and the Monday start
The convention center garage holds 800 spaces and opens at 6:00 a.m. Standard entry runs $15 for up to 18 hours, and event days carry a dynamic $15 to $25 rate. The garage grants no in-and-out and prohibits overnight parking.
MAX light rail stops 300 times a day near the front door, and the Streetcar A Loop arrives at NE MLK and Hoyt every 15 minutes. The venue counts 566 metered spaces within three blocks.
The order to book in
Register the booth first. Then fix the shift: Sunday 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Book the window against that shift and confirm the checkout hour in writing. A representative working Sunday and resetting for Monday wants a 1:00 p.m. start and a 9:00 p.m. finish. A representative who needs the Monday morning alone wants a 5:00 a.m. start.
NACAC publishes no set-up hour for this fair and names no host hotel on the public pages. The exhibitor FAQ sends both from the event manager. Ask for the set-up hour before the room is booked.
