Utah's biggest pop culture convention is coming to Sandy.

FanX will temporarily relocate to the Mountain America Expo Center on State Street after the Salt Palace Convention Center closes for a three-year reconstruction starting in fall 2027, FanX founder Dan Farr told ABC4 on Thursday, Sept. 24. Two smaller FanX events are planned at the Salt Palace in 2027 before the full closure.

The move puts one of the state's biggest conventions inside a venue roughly half the size. The Salt Palace offers 515,000 square feet of exhibit space. The Mountain America Expo Center, at 9575 S. State St., has nearly 260,000 square feet of exhibit and meeting room space across five halls.

Vendors who depend on FanX sales are watching the transition closely.

Ben Grajeda, who sells 3D-printed helmets and custom pieces out of his Saratoga Springs home, called FanX "one of our biggest money makers for sure." He told ABC4 the show generates custom orders for up to six months afterward. Grajeda was laid off from his full-time job earlier in 2026 and now relies on his vendor business to support his family, including two children and a newborn.

"We have two kids and a newborn, so it's one of those things where it's gonna be scary… if it happens as drastically as it could happen, it's gonna be hard," Grajeda said.

Charlie Wolf, another vendor whose FanX sales fund the Officer Doug Barney Memorial Toy Drive and other Utah County toy drives, told ABC4 the smaller venue will likely mean fewer attendees and lower sales. Wolf said FanX is his biggest show of the year.

The Salt Palace closure is part of Salt Lake County's $1.8 billion downtown redevelopment project tied to a new sports and entertainment district near the Delta Center. KSL reported in June that the county plans to sell a $55.4 million western portion of the Salt Palace to Smith Entertainment Group early in 2027, triggering the reconstruction. The Salt Palace hosts about 200 conventions a year.

Salt Lake County officials told KSL that some events could shift to the Sandy expo center during the closure. The Mountain America Expo Center, owned by Salt Lake County and managed by ASM Global, opened in November 2000.

FanX has held events at the Salt Palace since 2013. The Sept. 24–26 event is the last full-sized FanX before the transition begins. No specific date has been announced for the first Sandy event.