The weekend the organiser publishes
The Big Ten Conference dates its Fan Fest presented by Dr Pepper to Friday, 4 December, and Saturday, 5 December 2026, at the Indiana Convention Center. The conference assigns more than 200,000 square feet to interactive games, entertainment, Big Ten merchandise, giveaways, food and beverages.
The Discover Big Ten Football Championship Game follows at Lucas Oil Stadium on Saturday, 5 December. Kickoff is 8 p.m. ET on FOX. The conference calls this the 16th annual title matchup, and the winner takes the Amos Alonzo Stagg Championship Trophy and a place in the College Football Playoff.
The convention centre's own page dates the Fan Fest to 5-6 December 2026 and places it directly ahead of the game at the adjacent stadium. Two publishers, two date ranges, and a planner reads both.
What 200,000 square feet takes
Visit Indy publishes the Indiana Convention Center at 566,600 square feet of contiguous exhibit space across 11 halls, with 71 meeting rooms and three ballrooms. The festival's published 200,000 square feet is 35.3 percent of that contiguous total.
The hall assignment for the festival is unpublished. Hall I carries 88,600 square feet, Hall H carries 74,400 and Hall J carries 36,400. Those three add to 199,400 square feet, 600 square feet under the festival's published figure.
The venue's own numbers
The convention centre publishes a forecast attendance of 70,000 on its Fan Fest entry. The venue publishes 7,100 hotel rooms in downtown Indianapolis and 4,700 rooms connected to the convention centre by skywalk.
Its hotels page adds that more than half of downtown's 7,100-plus rooms sit within blocks of the convention centre and the stadium. That is the block a group can walk.
The convention centre's neighbours that week include the 38th Combat Aviation Brigade Ball on 5 December at a forecast 250, and the Performance Racing Industry Show from 10 to 12 December at a forecast 67,500.
The two-night shape for a group
The Friday festival day and the Saturday game produce a Friday and Saturday night pair for a group attending both. The convention centre publishes no block rate, no cut-off date and no group inventory for the festival.
A planner prices those two nights on the open market. The only published attendance figure for the weekend sits on the venue's Fan Fest entry.