IDEF is not one exhibition in one building. At the 2025 edition the fair ran across four sites at once: the halls at Istanbul Expo Center, an 11,000 m² indoor and 24,000 m² open display at Atatürk Airport’s Terminal C where delegations drove land vehicles, fourteen warships anchored off Ataköy Marina, and a congress centre for the meetings. Before you brief anyone on a stand, you need to know which of those sites your exhibit belongs to.
IDEF 2027, the 18th International Defence Industry Fair, runs 3–9 May 2027 at Istanbul Expo Center (İFM), Yeşilköy. This page is written for exhibitors looking for an IDEF stand builder: what this fair’s stands have to do, the access and security rules that affect an installation crew, approval, and prices.
Contents
ToggleIDEF at a glance
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Dates | 3–9 May 2027 (18th edition, seven days) |
| Venue | Istanbul Expo Center (İFM), Yeşilköy, Istanbul |
| Frequency | Every two years, odd years, since 1993 |
| Exhibitors (2025) | 1,491 companies from 49 countries — 584 of them foreign |
| Visitors (2025) | 121,753 from 114 countries |
| Official delegations (2025) | 229 from 96 countries and 4 international organisations, 967 members |
| Halls (2025) | 1 to 11, roughly 120,000 m² |
| Largest exhibitor segment (2025) | UAV and unmanned systems, 19.1% of exhibitors |
| Scheduled meetings (2025) | 6,301, with 270 signing ceremonies |
| Early-booking discount deadline | 30 October 2026 |
Two facts that out-of-date pages still get wrong. IDEF changed venue in 2025: editions from 2009 to 2023 were at Tüyap in Büyükçekmece; 2025 and 2027 are at Istanbul Expo Center in Yeşilköy. And the organiser is KFA Fuarcılık, under the Turkish Armed Forces Foundation and hosted by the Ministry of National Defence — not the venue operator and not Tüyap.
Booking space: what 30 October 2026 means
Stand applications for IDEF 2027 are open, and the organiser’s announcement is precise about the date: 30 October 2026 is the last day for early-booking discounts. It is not described as the closing date for applications. Applications go through the online form on the IDEF website in four steps — company information, contact and activity, participation details, confirmation.
If you would rather book in your own country, the organiser lists official agents for IDEF 2027 in Italy (Ediconsult Internazionale), China (Polmil International), the Czech Republic (Sun Drive), Germany (CCO Creative Consulting) and the United States (Kallman Worldwide). The 2027 layout plan had not been published at the time of writing, so hall and plot are not yet known. A stand design does not have to wait for them: we start from the floor area, the number of open sides and the meetings you need, and fit the design to the plot once it is allocated.
229 delegations is the number that sets your layout
The 121,753 visitor figure is not what you design for. The business at IDEF is done by official delegations — 229 of them in 2025, carrying 967 people between them, moving through the halls on a published schedule with a procurement brief. A delegation arrives as a group of six to twelve, often with an interpreter and an attaché, and it does not stop at a stand that has nowhere to seat it.
| Stand size | What it supports |
|---|---|
| Up to 20 m² | Product display and a standing briefing; a delegation will pass through, not stop |
| 30–50 m² | One closed meeting room for six to eight, plus an open display |
| 60–100 m² | Two parallel closed meetings, a display area and secure storage |
| 120 m²+ | A hosting area with refreshment, two or three meeting rooms, and a demonstration space |
Closed rooms matter more here than at any other fair in Turkey. Specification, export licensing and price are discussed in the same conversation, and your competitor is often ten metres away. A screened corner is not enough above a certain level of exhibit — plan a room with a door, and plan where the delegation waits while the room is occupied.
Over seven days, with a hosting area in use, storage stops being optional. Refreshment supplies, printed documentation, personal bags and demonstration spares all need somewhere out of sight. We build it under counters and behind the meeting room rather than letting it accumulate in a corner.
6,301 meetings in six days: what 2025 says about 2027
The organiser’s closing figures for IDEF 2025 show what the fair is for: 6,301 scheduled meetings, 270 signing ceremonies and a reported contract volume of about USD 9 billion over six days, with 1,157 new products on show. The 2027 edition runs seven days, and the organiser is expanding its Meetings Platform — scheduled meetings between Turkish authorities, international delegations and exhibitors. Count your expected meetings per day before you choose a floor area: if your team will hold ten a day, the stand needs room for ten a day, and a second meeting room usually pays for itself before a larger display does.
Signing ceremonies have their own coordinator at the organiser. If you expect to sign an agreement during the fair, ask early where it will be staged: a signing on your own stand needs a backdrop that photographs well, a table with clear sightlines and standing room for the press.
Which site is your exhibit on?
The 2027 programme again includes a live demonstration area at Atatürk Airport where delegations test land vehicles, and ship visits at the port. Where your product sits changes the build entirely:
- Electronics, communications, EW, radar, software, UAV and subsystems — these are the halls at İFM, and they are a conventional stand build with meeting rooms, display plinths and screens.
- Land vehicles and large platforms — static display and driving at the airport site, with indoor stand and lounge space alongside. The build there is about shelter, shade, seating and signage rather than wall structure.
- Naval — hulls at the marina, with your hall stand representing the platform rather than holding it.
Companies with hardware at two sites usually need two builds and one visual identity across both. Tell us at briefing which sites you have booked and we design them as one job.
Security rules that affect how a stand gets built
IDEF publishes access rules that are stricter than a commercial fair’s, and they shape the installation as much as the visit:
| Rule | What it means on site |
|---|---|
| Photo ID at every entry | Every member of the installation crew carries identification, every day |
| Lanyard badge worn at all times | Crew accreditation is arranged in advance; nobody is admitted on the day |
| No registration at the gate | Online pre-registration with an approval code is compulsory for everyone |
| Weapons prohibited across all event areas | Applies to display items too — clear your exhibit list with the organiser |
| No professional photography without a press badge | Your own build photographs need permission arranged beforehand |
| Under-18s not admitted | Rules out the junior crew that some contractors use for handling |
The practical consequence is that a contractor who has not worked this fair before loses a day to accreditation. We handle crew registration as part of the job and submit the team list with the technical file.
Note also that IDEF 2027’s floor plan and exhibitor report had not been published at the time of writing, and no public exhibitor technical manual exists. The build-up schedule, the design submission deadline and any restricted construction zones come from the organiser directly. Ask for them as soon as your space is confirmed; we will chase them with your stand details if you prefer.
Approval and the venue’s limits
Istanbul Expo Center’s figures bind every stand in the halls: height capped at 5.8 m, floor load 2,250 kg/m², and a structural check for any stand 4 m or over and for every two-storey stand. Two-storey stands are common at IDEF — an upstairs meeting floor over a ground-floor display is the standard answer to the delegation problem — so budget for the static report from the start.
One exception matters here because IDEF takes every hall at the venue. Hall 11 has a 4.3 m ceiling, and the venue gives its booth height as 3.8 m rather than the 5.8 m of Halls 1–10, so a two-storey stand will not fit there. Clear heights above the stands also differ: 14 m in Hall 1, 10.4 m in Halls 2 and 4–8, and 9 m in Halls 3, 9 and 10, which matters if the exhibit itself is tall, such as a mast-mounted sensor. Check your hall before the design is fixed.
We prepare the dimensioned drawings and technical file, commission the structural report, submit for approval and follow it through.
Bringing equipment into Turkey
Demonstration hardware you will take home normally travels under an ATA carnet as temporary admission, and documentation or samples you leave behind need a full export declaration. Defence goods carry export control and end-use requirements entirely separate from customs procedure, and those sit with you and your national licensing authority, not with a stand builder. Start that process early — it is the longest lead time on the whole project.
Prices
| Included in our price | Paid to the organiser |
|---|---|
| Design and 3D visuals, revised until approved | Floor space rental |
| Technical file, static report and submission | Electricity and water connections |
| Crew accreditation and team list | In-hall handling and empty-case storage |
| Manufacturing in our own workshop and pre-assembly | Compulsory service and catalogue fees |
| Transport, installation and dismantling | Static control fee, where one is charged |
| A technician on call for all seven days |
Our band for a custom stand is 400 – 750 EUR per m², quoted as a fixed price in EUR against an approved design. Island stands add 10–20%; double-decker structures add 40–60%, including the steel structure, the static report and the longer installation. If the organiser requires a change after approval, we tell you what it costs before we make it.
Send your hall and stand number, size, number of open sides, how many simultaneous closed meetings you need and which sites you have booked, and you get a 3D design and a fixed quotation.
Timeline for May 2027
| Stage | When |
|---|---|
| Book space — early-booking discount closes | 30 October 2026 |
| Export licensing for your exhibit | Start immediately — longest lead time |
| Meeting-capacity brief, site allocation, exhibit list | December 2026 |
| 3D design, two-storey decision, static report | January 2027 |
| Submission to the organiser | Per the deadline the organiser gives you |
| Crew accreditation and team list | March 2027 |
| Manufacturing and pre-assembly | February–April 2027 |
| Installation | Within the organiser’s setup window |
We work to 14–16 weeks for an IDEF stand with a meeting floor. The binding dates are the organiser’s approval deadline and your own export licence, not our production schedule.
Frequently asked questions
When is IDEF 2027?
3–9 May 2027 at Istanbul Expo Center (İFM), Yeşilköy, Istanbul — the 18th edition, running seven days. The 2025 edition hosted 1,491 companies from 49 countries, 121,753 visitors from 114 countries and 229 official delegations.
Is 30 October 2026 the deadline for booking IDEF space?
It is the last day for the early-booking discount, as the organiser announces it — not a stated closing date for applications. You can apply through the online form on the IDEF website or through the organiser’s agents in Italy, China, the Czech Republic, Germany and the United States.
Is IDEF still at Tüyap?
No. Editions from 2009 to 2023 were at Tüyap in Büyükçekmece; since 2025 the fair has been at Istanbul Expo Center in Yeşilköy, with additional display sites at Atatürk Airport and Ataköy Marina.
Do I need a closed meeting room?
If you expect delegation meetings, yes. Export licensing and pricing are discussed in the same conversation as the specification, and a screened corner is not private. From about 30 m² a closed room is realistic; a two-storey stand puts it upstairs and keeps your ground floor for display.
Can my installation crew get in on the day?
No. IDEF requires online pre-registration with an approval code, photo ID at entry and a worn lanyard badge, and there is no registration at the gate. Crew accreditation is arranged in advance — we submit the team list with the technical file.
Where do I find the stand rules and the build-up schedule?
From the organiser. IDEF does not publish an exhibitor technical manual, and the 2027 floor plan was still pending at the time of writing. Request both as soon as your space is confirmed, or send us your stand details and we will obtain them.
Creostand is an exhibition stand builder in Istanbul: we design, manufacture in our own workshop in Esenyurt — about 35 minutes from Istanbul Expo Center — and install on site. For other fairs and dates, see our Istanbul exhibition calendar.