Most of us know that the Denver Gem & Mineral Showcase — the combined citywide shows held on September 12 — is the second-largest showcase of its kind in the world, with Tucson being the largest. This ranking is based on the number of vendors, with Tucson featuring over 3,000, and Denver with nearly 1,000. These are “showcases,” citywide events in which multiple shows, each independently produced, are set up in one town during the same dates. But what about the largest independently owned shows, again, based on the number of vendors? Where are they, and who produces them?
Interestingly, there are fewer than 20 gem, mineral, and fossil shows in the world that have more than 150 vendors selling at their shows, and three of these shows are part of the September Denver Gem & Mineral Showcase. In fact, one of them, The Denver Gem Show at the National Western Complex, is the largest show in North America, with 348 vendors, making it the fourth largest in the world.
The other two Denver shows that make the World’s Top 20 Largest Shows list are the Colorado Minerals, Fossils & Gems Show at the Denver Coliseum at #13, and Hardrock Summit at The Westin Westminster at #16.
No. 4 - The Denver Show at the National Western Complex
Produced by members of the Carhart family and their company, Hart Events, these guys also operate two other U.S. shows that make the Top 20 List — The Tucson Gem Show on 22nd Street, #5 on the list, held in giant air-conditioned tents during the Tucson Gem, Mineral, Fossil Showcase in January-February, and The Spring NJ Gem Show at #15, which runs in May at the NJ Convention & Exposition Center in Edison, N.J.
No. 13 - Colorado Minerals, Fossils & Gems Show at the Denver Coliseum
Remarkably, this is the very first year for the Colorado Minerals, Fossils & Gems Show, produced by CMFGS, LLP, which was established in 2024. Owner David Guery, who also owns the fossil and mineral sales company, Geofossiles, LLC, his wife, Logan, and Heather Monahan (well known in vendor management in gem show circles), simply state on the CMFGS website, “After being behind our own booths as sellers, we decided to organize our own show starting in 2025 on the premises of the Denver Coliseum.” And they did, bringing in 195 new vendors to its inaugural show.
No. 16 - Hardrock Summit at The Westin Westminster
In its fifth year, the Hardrock Summit features 166 vendors, with a heavy emphasis on fine mineral dealers and boutique gems and jewelry within its hotel venue, a fine art gallery, an impressive lineup of workshops and lectures, world-class gem and mineral exhibitions, and an outdoor Tent Village of nearly 40 vendors. The founding producers of Hardrock Summit — Wolter Mehring and Christoph Keilmann — have decades of experience operating gem shows. Mehring owns one of the top shows at the Tucson Gem, Mineral & Fossil Showcase, the Pueblo Gem & Mineral Show, which is the #6 largest show in the world, with 310 vendors in attendance last year. Co-producer Keilmann owns The Munich Show/Gemworld, not only Europe’s most important and largest show, but it’s also #1 on the Top Shows in the World list with more than 1,100 vendors in October.
You can view the complete list of the World’s Largest Independent Gem & Mineral Shows on the Xpo Press website.