The exhibitor's guide to Dhahran Expo: heights, freight doors and power — the numbers that decide your stand design
A stand designed on a blank sheet and then measured against the hall gets revised twice. One designed on the hall's numbers gets revised once, or not at all. These are Dhahran Expo's numbers as we use them.
Dhahran International Exhibition Center — commonly Dhahran Expo — is the main trade-show venue in the Eastern Province, and it hosts most of the industrial and energy exhibitions that matter to companies in Dammam, Khobar and Jubail: Aramco's iktva forum, the Saudi Maritime Congress, industrial machinery and tools shows, and more. The figures below are from the centre's published specifications; what follows each figure is what we learned by building there.
Specifications can change with renovation work, and the exhibitor manual issued by each show's organiser is the final reference for your show. Use this page for early design, then check it against the organiser's manual.
The four halls in numbers
| Specification | Halls 1 & 2 | Halls 3 & 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Area per hall | 3,600 m² (60×60 m) | 3,600 m² (60×60 m) |
| Combined | 7,200 m² (120×60 m) through two 14 m movable doors | 7,200 m² as one open space with an optional divider |
| Clear height | 7.3 m | 10.8 m |
| Freight doors | 3.7 m wide × 4.9 m high | 5 m wide × 8 m high |
| Floor loading | 2 t/m² | 2 t/m² |
| Rigging points | 112 points · 100 kg each | 147 points · 300 kg each |
| Floor power points | 16 | 115 |
| Water | Available | Available |
Total covered space is 14,400 m² across the four halls. But what matters to an exhibitor is not the total — it is which hall the stand lands in, and the difference between Halls 1–2 and Halls 3–4 is bigger than it looks.
What the height means for your design
7.3 m clear in Halls 1 and 2 sounds generous until you subtract what the organiser subtracts: most shows cap stand height at four or four and a half metres, and require anything above three metres to be set back from the neighbour's boundary. In Halls 3 and 4 the clear height reaches 10.8 m, and there suspended elements and tall structures become genuinely possible — provided their drawings go to the organiser early.
- Ask which hall you are in before approving any height above 4 m.
- A hung element needs a rigging point from the centre, and the points in Halls 1 and 2 are limited to 100 kg each — a large banner on a steel frame may need three or four.
- A double-deck stand is realistic only in Halls 3 and 4, and with an engineering approval.
What the freight doors mean for build day
The freight door in Halls 1 and 2 is 3.7 m wide and 4.9 m high. Any fabricated piece wider than that comes in knocked down and is assembled inside the hall, which adds hours to the build and needs assembly space that may not exist if your neighbour started before you. We fabricate stand walls bound for those two halls in pieces no wider than 3 m for exactly this reason. Halls 3 and 4 have a 5×8 m door, and near-complete structures roll in on the truck.
Power: the difference between 16 points and 115
Halls 3 and 4 have 115 floor power points; Halls 1 and 2 have sixteen. In the latter, the cable runs from the hall panel to your stand across other people's stands, so it needs an agreed route, cable covers and time. That is why in those two halls we request the power connection in the first hours of the build, not the last, and design in a raised floor that hides the run.
- Calculate your load: a 3×2 m LED wall plus stand lighting and a small café easily exceeds the usual 16 A circuit.
- Ask for 24-hour power if you have a fridge, a server or a screen that runs continuously; default power is cut when the hall closes.
Floor loading and heavy equipment
2 t/m² in every hall. That covers most exhibits, including light industrial equipment and vehicles. What surprises exhibitors is point loading: an industrial pump on four small feet concentrates its weight at four points, and spreader plates get requested for it. State the weight of your heaviest piece and its footprint in your application, and it is answered in a day rather than discovered at the gate.
A realistic build schedule at Dhahran Expo
| When | What happens |
|---|---|
| 4 weeks out | Submit stand drawings to the organiser for approval (mandatory above a set height and for island stands) |
| 3 weeks out | Order power, water, rigging and storage; submit crew names for access passes |
| Build day 1 | Trucks in on the organiser's time slots, power connection, structure |
| Build day 2 | Graphics, screens, furniture, then cleaning and handover |
| The night before opening | Only finishing touches remain in the hall; whoever is still building tonight opens late |
| After close | Dismantle within a set window, usually the same night and the next morning |
Note that large custom stands need two build days, and most shows give two or three to island stands and one to small ones. If your stand is 6×6 or bigger and you have been given one day, request early access on the schedule and pay its fee — it is cheaper than an extra night shift.
What we handle at Dhahran Expo
We design stands on the numbers of the hall they will sit in, submit the drawings to the organiser, order power and rigging in the client's name, fabricate in our Dammam workshop a short drive from the centre, and hand the stand over ready two days before opening with a resident supervisor throughout the show. Service details are in exhibition stand design and build, and design ideas in exhibition stand design: 7 practical ideas.
Send your stand number and hall, and we come back with a design that fits the numbers
Common questions
Where is Dhahran Expo and how do I reach it by truck?
The centre is on King Faisal Street (the Khobar–Dammam coastal road) in Khobar, between Dammam and Khobar, about half an hour from our office in Al-Urubah district, Dammam. The freight entrance is separate from the visitor entrance and needs an access pass from the organiser with driver names and plate numbers before build day.
What is the maximum stand height allowed at Dhahran Expo?
The hall's clear height is 7.3 m in Halls 1 and 2 and 10.8 m in Halls 3 and 4, but the actual limit is set by each show's organiser, usually 4 to 4.5 m with drawing approval required above 3 m. Check your show's exhibitor manual.
Can a banner or structure be hung from the hall ceiling?
Yes, through the dedicated rigging points: 112 points rated 100 kg in Halls 1 and 2, and 147 rated 300 kg in Halls 3 and 4. Rigging is ordered in advance from the organiser with weights and drawings, and carried out by an approved crew, not the stand builders.
Do you build stands at shows organised by others at Dhahran Expo?
Yes, and that is most of what we build there: an exhibitor buys their space from the organiser and commissions us for the complete stand from design to clearance. We deal with the organiser and the centre on their behalf for drawings, power and permits.
Read next
- The exhibitor's checklistWhat to know and prepare before build day, written from the side of the people who receive exhibitors in the hall.
- Exhibition stand design: 7 practical ideasWhy a visitor stops at one stand and not the next — ideas from the hall, not the catalogue.
- The Eastern Province exhibitions calendarThe recurring shows at Dhahran Expo and when to start preparing your stand for each.
- Choosing a venue in the Eastern ProvinceEight items to check on a site visit before signing.