Updated July 29, 2026

GovCon Events.

The 2026 Government Contracting Events Calendar.

Every federal conference, agency industry day, training webinar, and set-aside matchmaking event for 2026, curated, filterable, and updated as new events are announced. Maintained by SamSearch for U.S. government contractors, small businesses, and SLED vendors.

Tracked events: 125
Conferences: 33
Training & webinars: 4
Set-aside focused: 0

Marquee events to plan around

Sep 1 – Sep 2
2026 GovCon Accelerator Summit
USDLF summit focused on accelerating growth and positioning in the federal market — strategy, pipelines, and engagement with defense procurement leadership (confirm venue on registration page).
Visit site
Nov 16 – Nov 17
2027 Navy Outlook Summit
Scheduled Nov 16-17, 2026 in Reston per USDLF. Navy-focused outlook on fleet priorities, programs, and industry alignment — confirm details on the registration page.
Visit site
Sep 14 – Sep 16
AFA Air, Space & Cyber Conference 2026
AFA's flagship aerospace conference. ~300 booths, 40+ sessions, and the year's most concentrated Air Force / Space Force decision-maker access.
Visit site
Oct 12 – Oct 14
AUSA Annual Meeting & Exposition 2026
The largest land power exposition in North America. 700+ exhibitors, state-of-the-Army presentations, and the year's deepest Army contractor access.
Visit site

Showing 2 events matching filters.

August 2026

2 events

Aug24–28
August 24–28, 2026
Conferences
Deep Tech Week ATX 2026
Deep Tech Week
Week-long Austin gathering of founders, investors, and operators building physical-tech and dual-use companies — strong overlap with DIU, AFWERX, and SBIR ecosystems.
- Deep Tech
- Dual Use
- Startups
Austin, TX
Visit site
Aug27
August 27, 2026
Conferences
POC 2026 Navy Summit
Potomac Officers Club
Navy modernization, fleet readiness, and shipbuilding priorities with senior Navy leadership and industry.
- Navy
- Defense
Falls Church, VA
Visit site

Top 2026 GovCon events by audience.

A short editorial pick of the most useful 2026 events for each audience SamSearch serves. Click through for full event details, location, registration, and an .ics export.

Best for small businesses & set-asides

Small business outreach events with matchmaking, set-aside-aware programming (8(a), HUBZone, WOSB, SDVOSB), and direct access to agency small-business specialists.

Best for defense contractors

Marquee defense industry conferences across Army, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and the broader defense industrial base.

Best for federal IT & cyber

Federal CIO, CISO, and acquisition leadership events covering Zero Trust, FedRAMP, AI, quantum, and CMMC.

Best for state & local (SLED)

State, county, and city procurement events for vendors targeting state agencies, school districts, and county purchasing offices.

About this calendar.

Free, curated, and updated by humans. The SamSearch GovCon Events Calendar tracks every government contracting event worth knowing about in 2026, built for federal contractors, small businesses, and SLED vendors.

What it includes

Federal procurement conferences (PSC, ATARC, AFCEA, NDIA, AUSA, AFA)
Agency industry days and matchmaking events
Small-business outreach for 8(a), HUBZone, WOSB, SDVOSB
Training webinars from SBA, GSA, NIST, DAU, APEX
SLED procurement events for state, county, and city vendors

How it's sourced

Primary sources only, organizer sites and agency outreach offices
No scraping, no auto-imports, every entry is human-reviewed
Verified date, location, organizer, and registration link
Last refreshed July 29, 2026
Updates published as organizers announce new events

What you can do with it

Filter by category, format (in-person / virtual / hybrid), or month
Search by event name, city, agency, or topic
Switch between list and calendar views
Download any event as an .ics file with one click
Submit your own event, there's no fee to be listed

Frequently asked questions.

Common questions about the SamSearch GovCon Events Calendar, federal contracting events, industry days, and how to choose which events are worth attending in 2026.

What is the SamSearch GovCon Events Calendar?

The SamSearch GovCon Events Calendar is a curated, free directory of every government contracting conference, agency industry day, training webinar, and set-aside matchmaking event happening across 2026. SamSearch maintains the calendar from primary sources (organizer websites, agency outreach offices, and industry associations) and updates it as new events are announced.

What government contracting events should I attend in 2026?

The most-attended GovCon conferences of 2026 include AUSA Annual Meeting (October, Washington DC), AFA Air, Space & Cyber (September, National Harbor MD), Sea-Air-Space (April, National Harbor MD), the SAME Federal Small Business Conference (November, Charlotte NC), the National 8(a) Association regional conferences, and FedTalks (November, Washington DC). The right event depends on your agency targets and socio-economic certifications: use the calendar filters above to narrow by category, format, and audience.

Are there free government contracting events for small businesses?

Yes. Many federal small-business outreach events, APEX Accelerator workshops, GSA training webinars, and SBA Small Business Week sessions are free for U.S. small businesses and aspiring federal contractors. Filter the calendar by 'Training' or look for the 'Free' tag on individual events.

What is the difference between an industry day and a conference?

An industry day is a focused, agency-hosted event tied to a specific buyer, program, or upcoming solicitation, typically half a day to two days, with one-on-one matchmaking and pre-solicitation Q&A. A conference is broader and industry-run: multi-day, multi-track programming with hundreds or thousands of attendees, an exhibit hall, and senior agency keynotes. Both are valuable; industry days are higher-signal for an active capture, conferences are better for relationship building and market intelligence.

Where can I find virtual government contracting events in 2026?

Use the 'Virtual' filter in the calendar above. SamSearch's calendar includes virtual options for SBA Small Business Week panels, Deltek/GovWin webinars, NCMA training, NIST cybersecurity briefings, and many APEX Accelerator workshops, all delivered online and most of them free.

Which 2026 events are best for 8(a), HUBZone, WOSB, and SDVOSB firms?

Top set-aside-focused events for 2026 include the National 8(a) Association regional conferences, the HUBZone Annual Conference, NVSBC VETS26 (the premier service-disabled veteran-owned small business event), and the SAME Federal Small Business Conference for the A/E/C industry. Many of these include reserved matchmaking time with prime contractors and federal small-business specialists.

What is the biggest defense contracting conference in 2026?

By attendance, the largest defense industry events of 2026 are AUSA Annual Meeting (~30,000 attendees, Washington DC), AFA Air, Space & Cyber Conference (~15,000, National Harbor MD), Sea-Air-Space (~14,000, National Harbor MD), and I/ITSEC (~20,000, Orlando). Each focuses on a different service or capability area; pick by buyer alignment.

Can I add my event to the SamSearch GovCon Events Calendar?

Yes, email support@samsearch.co with the event name, dates, location, organizer, registration URL, and a 1-2 sentence description. We accept conferences, industry days, training events, and matchmaking events, both free and paid, virtual or in-person. There is no fee to be listed.

How often is the calendar updated?

The calendar is reviewed and refreshed regularly. The dataset on this page was last updated July 29, 2026. New events, dates, and venue changes are published as organizers announce them, bookmark this page or subscribe to the SamSearch newsletter to stay current.

Hosting an event?

Tell us about it and we’ll add it to the calendar.

Conferences, industry days, agency briefings, and matchmaking events welcome, free or paid, virtual or in-person. There is no fee to be listed.

Submit an event