The 10 Best Prepper Conventions & Survival Expos
Prepper conventions and survival expos have seen a shift over the last several years. You won’t find many that follow the same framework as the enduring gun and knife shows. This is probably due to profit, as we’ve seen many in the convention-center expo format disappear over the years. Lately, the successful preparedness gatherings are either community-driven or operate similarly to a survival school, or both!
If you’ve been meaning to get out in the prepper community, learn more with hands-on classes about specific topics, or just want to get out and about, these are the most popular events slated for 2026.
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Our latest update added more prepper conventions and survival expos, and updated the rankings for 2026.
Why go to a Survival Expo?
There are unlimited reasons to go to a convention or expo, but one of the biggest is the people.
Plenty of preppers make new friends and enjoy learning new skills from masters in their craft. Others catch up with old buddies and learn new ideas.
While prepping is growing larger and more mainstream than ever, prepping conventions reflect this change with people-centric activities, practical preparedness, and celebrations of community.
Below, we list out the top 10 prepper gatherings in order of popularity, and when we’ve traveled to more in the future, we’ll add some editor’s picks.
Top 10 Prepper Conventions
There is a wide range of topics and focuses that prepper conventions, survival expos, and homesteading shows can address, but we’ll be real- some are better than others. All of the events in our top 10 are worth visiting, and some other smaller events can be found in our honorable mention section.
Modern Homesteading Conference
Rank = 10, Previous = HM
Coeur D’alene, Idaho
June 26-27, 2025
4,000 homesteaders gathering for a conference is hard to ignore in this fourth annual conference.
The headlining speaker is Joel Salatin, and that highlights the focus for the Modern Homesteading Conference. If you can do it on a homestead, it’s on the schedule in this conference that spans multiple buildings at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds in Idaho.
West Virginia Off-Grid Living Expo
Rank = 9, Previous = HM
Lewisburg, West Virginia
Oct 2-3, 2026
Touted as half festival, half expo, this get-together is growing fast and is inexpensive to attend.
West Virginia is a hotbed of preparedness with a resilient population, so it’s no wonder this newer festival is thriving! You’ll be able to hear from EJ Snyder, Joel Salatin, and other off-grid, homesteading, and wilderness survival experts when you attend the two-day event held at the West Virginia State Fairgrounds.
There are plenty of kid-friendly events, making it a family-friendly weekend excursion.
Minnesota Prepper Expo
Rank = 8, Previous = 9
Little Falls, Minnesota
June 20-22, 2025
A good blend of general preparedness gear puts Prep Boxes on the map and on our list.
Held at the Morrison County Fairgrounds each year, this family-friendly event covers an enormous range of topics, including zombie survival, as its logo hints at.
It’s not all fun and games, though- practical preparedness is everywhere. They even have Jim Cobb on tap as a speaker, best known for his survival guides and being the editor-in-chief for several top survival magazines.
Homesteading Life Conference
Rank = 7, Previous = 8
Vandalia, Missouri
May 15-16, 2026
Doug and Stacy host this conference with hands-on workshops in Missouri.
Doug and Stacy (of YouTube homesteading fame) host this conference with a huge range of how-to demonstrations lined up. From gardening (and a seed swap) to butchering and chicken raising, there are topics for any type of homesteader or prepper looking to be more self-reliant.
It has run for several years now, helped by the growing interest in homesteading and big-name headliners. This conference continues to sell out each year and is holding even more events, like a Women’s Conference.
Homesteading & Prepping Summit
Rank = 6, Previous = 7
Elkton, Florida
April 25-26, 2026
A modest group of speakers gives this summit a personal touch on a wide range of homesteading topics.
With classes ranging from CBRN planning and defense to Korean Natural Farming (KNF), this is one of the most varied expos you can find.
Fittingly, it’s based in Florida, where you can find pretty much any idea coming to life. While it’s not the biggest expo (yet), it definitely is one of the most interesting, with a huge variety of topics.
Homesteading & Preparedness Festival
Rank = 5, Previous = 5
Bowling Green, Kentucky
July 17-19, 2026
An annual festival in Western Kentucky that celebrates agricultural preparedness and more!
Workshops and exhibits are the name of the game at this festival, with plenty to learn at all levels. Head to the WKU Brown AG Expo Center to learn about niche topics like:
- Hydroponics
- Fruit tree permaculture
- Soil health with biochar
- Grazing management
- Homestead medicine
Homesteaders will definitely want to check this festival out, and any prepper can stand to learn a few things as well.
Mountain Readiness Expo
Rank = 4, Previous = HM
Harmony, NC
May 1-3, 2026
This expo has a blockbuster lineup of serious survivalists sharing hands-on learning experiences.
Head down to tiny Harmony, NC, to meet and learn from a huge variety of survival superstars, including Alan McKay (Alone survivalist) and A. American (Best-selling author).
You can also wait for Mountain Readiness West, held July 24-26, 2026, in Swan Lake, Montana where the same headliners will show up and share their knowledge.
Self-Reliance Festival
Rank = 3, Previous = 3
Camden, Tennessee
Oct 3-4, 2026
This festival has been steadily growing every year with a huge host of speakers and a wide range of topics.
Learn and discuss everything from blacksmithing to defense dogs to family cows at this large-scale festival that doubles up with events in the spring and fall each year.
Presale tickets sold out extremely quickly, and in-person spots are limited. They offer digital passes so you can watch the events remotely if you don’t get your hands on a high-demand ticket. But part of the point of a survival festival is being there in person.
The Bushcraft Show
Rank = 2, Previous = 2
Lutterworth, UK
May 22-25, 2026
Across the pond in England, they throw one hell of a bushcraft bash each year.
Related to the UK-exclusive Bushcraft Magazine, their show caters to their readers’ love of the outdoors and resourcefulness. It still has an international attendance, drawing in plenty of Scandinavians who are known to adore bushcraft and survival.
Bjorn (from Norway) shows off his experience at the Brit show:
Prepper Camp
Rank = 1, Previous = 1
Mill Spring, North Carolina
Aug 14-16, 2026
Celebrating their 12th anniversary, Prepper Camp has proven to be able to endure the test of time.
The organizers over at Prepper Camp are overdue for their props. It is a well-oiled machine at this point, with events running smoothly, big-name speakers, and attendees from all over the US and the world.
As the event continues to grow every year, the location has been switched to Tryon International, where they have cabins, RV hookups, campgrounds, and even hotels on-site.
We might be partial since Mill Spring is only three hours away (and almost all of us are from North Carolina)- but the rankings don’t lie: Prepper Camp is now the most-recognized convention, expo, festival, or camp dealing with preparedness, homesteading, or survival.
This dad and his family show some great aerial views and log their journey from several years back:
Honorable Mention Conventions & Expos
These survival expos and prepper conventions didn’t quite make the top 10, or are no longer having events. Still, they are worth getting down to let people know we considered them in the ranking and to see what happened to an old favorite.
These expos and conferences are solid, but just didn’t have the recognition to hit our top 10. Don’t let that deter you from checking one out if you live close:
- Chaos on the Colorado River Expo – Bullhead City, AZ. – Next show: Mar. 6-8, 2026.
- Colorado Prepper Expo – Pueblo, CO. – The first annual show launched in 2025.
- Family Emergency Readiness Expo – Howell, MI. – Next show: Aug 22, 2026.
- Modern Homesteading Conference – Coeur d’Alene, ID. – Next show: Jun. 26-27, 2026. A huge homesteading conference that gets more speakers and sponsors every year.
- Okie Homesteading Expo – Pryor, OK – Next show: Mar. 20-21, 2026. The fourth annual expo is stacked with speakers, headlined by the renowned Dr. Temple Grandin.
- Thrivalists Self-Sufficiency Fair – Addy, WA. – Striving to be the West Coast Prepper Camp, this fair is going on its sixth year.
Discontinued Survival Expos
Shows, conventions, expos, and festivals don’t last forever. Here are a few you may recognize that are no longer being scheduled:
- Be Prepared Expo – The large Utah expo last convened in 2023. It was a flashy show with vehicles, Atlas shelters, and more showing up to feature.
- Bushcraft, Homestead & Survival Expo – The last time this Creek Stewart-attended event was held was in 2024.
- Dallas Preparedness Expo – Since 2016, this expo has been missing. There are plenty of county and regional preparedness fairs in Texas, but nothing quite this big.
- Great Lakes Emergency Preparedness Expo – With a cancelled event in 2025, the future of the popular EM expo is on the ropes.
- Prepper Festival – This festival, out of New Castle, Virginia, ran for 4 years before evaporating in 2017.
- National Preppers & Survivalists Expo – Since 2017, we haven’t seen this return to Jacksonville, Florida.
- PrepperCon – After a massive show in 2018, it evaporated. If anyone has the story on why the biggest prepper convention mysteriously vanished, we’re all ears.
- The Survival, Gun, and Outdoor Show – Run by a big gun show conglomerate, this show, which used to appear in Rock Island, Illinois, has been defunct since 2019.
- Greater Chicagoland Survival and Green Living Expo – Chicago has been missing since 2019. It was held by RK Shows, who still travel around and run gun shows.
- READY Long Beach – The last appearance of this local California expo was in 2023.
- Ready XPO – Robbins, NC. A new expo, so we can’t recommend it yet, but it is organized to show from Oct 25 – 27, 2024. Maybe we’ll see this on our list in the future if it goes off without a hitch.
- Ready Now Expo – A preparedness expo held in 2024 by a Missouri church that focused on Revelations and End Times as the SHTF event.
- Self-Reliance Expo – There used to be a show in Texas and Knoxville each year, but the last ones held were sadly in 2022.
- Wisconsin Prepper & Survival Expo – Held in an expo center in Appleton, Wisconsin, this preparedness-first gathering was last held in 2014.
The Final Word
There are plenty of prepping expos and survival shows to get out and explore, even if a few are in the history books. We’re all for the changing look with a focus on skills, community, and discussion rather than just ‘tactical stuff’.
Here are some other guides our subscribers have found helpful:
- The 10 Best Prepper YouTube Channels
- Prepper Color Coding | How to Get Organized
- Home Survival Kit List | 53 Essentials
If you have any favorite gatherings that we may have missed or chose not to rank, weigh in below in the comment section. We’ll take the time to review it before our next roundup and see where it stacks up.
See more of our expert-written guides, resources, and reviews in your search results – add TruePrepper as a preferred source.
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Sadly, there is nothing on the east coast within striking distance.
Tim
Hampton Roads, VA
I wonder about prepping groups in the area? I also reside in hampton roads.
Looking for peppers in NYC are immediate area.
It is sad that the EXPO’s are turning into expensive gun, knife, fighting survivalist jokes. I’d be happy to join quarterly/semi-annual/annual get-togethers. I attended some 10-20 years ago.
Gary
Looking to see if there is anyone located in Hawaii that is a prepper. Or Organizations .
Thrive Self-Reliance Fair & Expo/Colorado in October is produced by one of the people who produced the Self Reliance Expos in Colorado & Tennessee in 2022 after it had held no shows since 2019.
Looking for prepper minded groups in my area. Cleburne Texas
Seeking to connect w/preppers in the Indy or surrounding area.