Meeting Venues and Facilities

The Peoria Area boasts world-class convention and expo centers, featuring the Peoria Civic Center-located in downtown Peoria and the largest of its kind in downstate Illinois. We are also hosts to numerous convention hotels and 4,000+ guest rooms.

Top Places to Meet in Peoria

Whether you’re planning a meeting or a convention for 100 or 10,000 people, consider holding your event in Peoria, Illinois. The centrally located Midwest city, easily accessible via several major interstates, is home to Illinois’ largest downstate event facility, Peoria Civic Center. Combined with 4,000 hotel rooms and the helpful staff at The Peoria Area CVB, see why Peoria Civic Center is perfectly poised to host your next event.

The Meetings Centerpiece of Peoria

Peoria Civic Center is Central Illinois’ premier meeting facility, encompassing an arena, a theater and a convention center. Inside the convention center, find a 27,000-square-foot carpeted ballroom with 25-foot ceilings, an outdoor balcony with panoramic views of downtown Peoria and its own green room. The ballroom can accommodate up to 1,600 guests for a sit-down meal or break into nine individual meeting spaces.

Also available are 16 meeting rooms, which range in size from 500 to 7,300 square feet. With state-of-the-art audiovisual equipment available on-site—as well as a dedicated audiovisual specialist—each room can be set to accommodate your needs, from classroom-style seating to banquet setups.

For exhibits, the Peoria Civic Center has 110,000 square feet of contiguous exhibit space that can be divided into four separate halls, three of which are column free. Thirty-foot ceilings accommodate large equipment.

The beautiful on-site Theater has a capacity of 2,173 and can be used for performances and concerts, as well as lectures and keynote sessions. To kick off your conference on a high note, consider setting up registration in the 7,000-square-foot Theater Lobby, which has beautiful ceiling artwork, a glass elevator and a spiral staircase, as well as built-in coat check and a bar.

Often used to host concerts like Eric Church and REO Speedwagon, the 12,000-seat arena at the civic center does double duty as a trade show space. It can easily accommodate 140 spaces on its 27,400-square-foot floor, as well as 70 additional booths on the outer concourse.

Winters in Illinois can be brutal, but cold-month meetings at Peoria Convention Center are painless, thanks to a climate-controlled skywalk that provides direct access to 400 nearby hotel rooms. Ask about free meeting space and more perks available to groups that meet appropriate qualifications.

Hotel Meeting Spaces

Combining historic elegance with modern conveniences, the AAA Four Diamond, 286-room Peoria Marriott Pere Marquette Hotel is located in downtown Peoria and connected to Peoria Civic Center via skywalk. The hotel encompasses 18,900 square feet square feet of meeting space across multiple rooms, with the largest measuring 7,500 square feet. If you need an additional room block but don’t want to split up your group, the attached Courtyard Peoria Downtown is an easy, convenient option.

In the heart of downtown Peoria, you will also find the newly remodeled 4 Points by Sheraton that boasts 323 guest rooms along with 12 meeting spaces that are perfect for receptions or conferences, and the largest ballroom can easily serve up to 1,800 people.

The Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Grand Prairie is one of our areas newest hotels. With its convenient accessibility, located just minutes away from the Peoria Civic Center and seconds from the Shoppes at Grand Prairie,its amazing onsite restaurant, Suite Fire Grill, and with a welcoming sales staff and a venue with all the amenities you could ask for, the Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites is a perfect choice for a meeting planner!

Waterfront Off-Site Venues

If your meeting is headquartered at Peoria Civic Center, you may want to consider an off-site event to give attendees a change of scenery. An affordable, convenient and elegant option is The Gateway Building, located along the Peoria Riverfront. Within walking distance of hotels and numerous restaurants, the venue is only a block from Interstate 74. One of Gateway’s meeting spaces, Room 201, has 1,350 square feet of social space to accommodate up to 120 people banquet style.

Convention-goers can take in views of the Illinois River at Peoria Riverfront Museum, which includes several flexible meeting spaces. Host a reception in the lobby, plan a lecture in the auditorium that over looks a beautiful sculpture garden, or make presentations in the 200-seat Giant Screen Theater.

For a truly memorable event, gather your convention attendees in the museum’s Dome Planetarium, which hosts incredible laser shows, with private shows available for groups.

More Unique Spaces

Located at The MAXAM Building in downtown Peoria, The Waterhouse Banquet & Catering Facility has three options for meetings: The Distillery Room, which has exposed brick walls and hardwood floors; The Ballroom, an elegant space with indoor balconies and beautiful views of the river; and Broadway Lounge, a multilevel entertainment space that also plays home to Dueling Pianos some weekends.

Another popular meetings facility in Peoria, the Caterpillar Visitors Center features a variety of room sizes for half- or full-day rental. The dining room can seat 104 guests; the classroom hosts up to 50; the smaller conference room holds 16 for board meetings; and the 797 Theater holds about 60.

Peoria, Illinois, offers premium meeting and convention venues for every style and size amid a multifaceted, bustling urban core. Download our meeting planner guide to choose the perfect venue for your next professional.