Dayton Hamvention

ARRL booth at Hamvention 2010

The Dayton Hamvention is an amateur radio convention (or hamfest), generally considered to be the world's largest hamfest. It is held each May in the Dayton, Ohio area. Since 2017, it has been held at the Greene County Fairgrounds in Xenia, Ohio near Dayton. Prior to this it was held each May at the Hara Arena in Trotwood, Ohio.

The first Hamvention occurred on March 22, 1952 at the Biltmore Hotel in Dayton (QST March 1952).

Hara Arena had been the home of Dayton Hamvention since 1964. The Hara Arena announced its closure in 2016 with the 2017 Hamvention being forced to move as a result.

The Hamvention offers forums, exhibit space and a flea market and usually claims to have over 20,000 visitors (25,621 in 2015). Most of the major amateur equipment manufacturers take part as exhibitors in this show and put their newly announced products to display. Also small companies and amateurs themselves open booths to display their products including homebrew equipment. Besides other activities Hamvention holds Radio Amateur licence exams for newcomer HAM's and for HAM's whom want to upgrade their current licence levels.

Many amateur radio enthusiasts go out of their way to attend the Hamvention, travelling from all over the United States, Canada, Mexico and various parts of the world, including attendees from as far away as Australia, Japan and Russia. Within the Radio Amateur community outside USA, attending a Hamvention is a reason to be proud of.