May 7, 2026
How LightX Creates Space For Better Industry Conversations
Event blends hospitality, education and networking into one highly effective 2-day format
The lighting industry produces no shortage of events. What it produces far less often are events people feel genuinely committed to attending, rather than merely expected to attend.
LightX 2026 is already making the case. With July 27-28 dates at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine, Texas now locked, Bell & McCoy Lighting and Controls and FRM Lighting & Controls have already confirmed over 70 exhibitors, and registrations are still arriving. By most measures, the 2026 roster is pacing at or ahead of last year's count, months before the first booth gets loaded onto a truck. In an era when event budgets face genuine scrutiny, that kind of early momentum is worth noting.
Above: The worldwide leader in lighting controls remains a cornerstone exhibitor at LightX
Many of the names are familiar. Current is back. So are Lutron, Williams, LSI Industries and LEDI. From local sales managers to C-level executives, manufacturer personnel are already making plans to fly to Dallas, drawn less by obligation than by the kind of access to Southern U.S. lighting decision-makers that is genuinely difficult to replicate anywhere else.
Above: Scenes from LightX 2025
What Brings the Event Together
The specifiers, engineers, architects, and designers walking the LightX exhibit floor do not pay to be there. Bell & McCoy and FRM cover travel expenses for invited attendees, including airfare, ground transportation, and lodging at the expansive Gaylord Texan. Guests are encouraged to bring a spouse or significant other, whose travel is covered as well.
The resulting experience is less a trade show than a curated summer retreat, with lighting education and genuine relationship-building woven through every hour of the agenda.
- Monday arrives with manufacturer setup, then gives way to an afternoon pool party where handcrafted cocktails and heavy appetizers flow alongside the kind of unhurried conversation that a convention center hall rarely allows.
- Tuesday opens with a hot breakfast and a full opening session before the exhibit floor comes alive, then closes with a private concert.
- By Wednesday morning, when booths ship out and bags get packed, most attendees have had more meaningful industry interactions in 48 hours than they might have accumulated across the previous 48 days.
For manufacturers, the logistics are deliberately simplified. Manufacturers ship exhibits to a Dallas-area warehouse; transportation to the Gaylord is arranged. Carpet, power, tables, and chairs are provided in each space. The operational friction is removed so exhibitors can direct their energy toward the approximately 1,000 attendees expected, predominantly architects, engineers, and lighting designers, with contractors, distributors, and other key influencers rounding out the event.
A Footprint That Changes the Calculation
Some manufacturers assume LightX is relevant only if they operate across every market the agency touches. That assumption is worth revisiting.
Above: Current never misses a chance to theme a booth. Last year’s MTV-inspired ’80s setup came with strong nostalgia and at least a few employees who already owned the wardrobe.
Bell & McCoy and FRM operate as one organization, branded differently depending on the market, spanning 13 states and more than 20 territories with annual sales exceeding $2 billion.
The specifiers arriving in Grapevine this July are flying in from Texas, the Carolinas, Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma, Arizona, and across the broader South. A manufacturer does not need to be represented in most or all of those markets to find value in the room. The opportunity is in the concentration of influence, not the geography of the rep agreement.
The early numbers reflect that logic. LightX was not originally scheduled for 2026. After last summer's record Orlando event, the plan was a one-year pause. Manufacturers and customers pushed back before the closing night concert had faded. The event was reinstated because the demand made skipping it awkward.
The room keeps filling itself. And hundreds of lighting decision makers along with many manufacturers will want to be in it.
Manufacturers interested in exhibiting at LightX can learn more at lightxshow.com/manufacturers or contact Marisela Rivas at [email protected]
Above: Chris Coursey, President of Bell & McCoy Companies, greets hundreds of lighting people at LightX 2025 in Orlando, Florida
Sponsored Content:
This article is presented in partnership with Bell & McCoy and FRM Lighting & Controls.
