161st Grand Lodge Convention
July 5-8 at Chicago, IL
The 2026 Grand Lodge Convention will be held in Chicago, Illinois and the Indiana Elks Association will be housed at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place Chicago located at 2233 S. Martin Luther King Drive, Chicago, IL 60616. Telephone 312-567-1234. This is a non-smoking hotel and there are nine other states housed at this hotel.
The hotel provides no shuttle service to and from the hotel. Taxis from the airport to the hotel are approximately $30. If you are flying in, there will be a bus from Midway Airport and O’Hare Airport. If you are driving in, self-parking is $40 per night, valet is $60 per night.
The room rate is $169.00 per night plus their current taxes. Room reservations forms have been emailed to the lodges and are available for download below. All Elks planning on attending are urged to send in their reservations as soon as possible as rooms, I anticipate, will fill up quickly. The cutoff date for hotel reservations is May 22, 2026. Reservations received after this date will be accepted based on availability of same type rooms at the convention rate if they are available. Once the rooms are filled any overflow will be housed at another hotel by the Grand Lodge convention department.
The Hyatt Regency McCormick is in downtown Chicago and is connected to the McCormick Convention Center. The hotel features a bar, restaurant, Starbucks and a small store. This hotel does not have a pool. The average room will have a coffee maker and a safe. Some have a mini refrigerator as well.
Due to the fact that Elks from other states usually visit our hospitality room, we are asking all Indiana Elks to please wear your registration badges when visiting our hospitality room. Some of the other states do require you to wear your registration badge to enter their room.
Your hospitality room fee can be paid by clicking HERE. Please note, you will be taken to a different website. We are utilizing Zeffy for the online sales. Zeffy is an online commerce platform for non-profit organizations. When checking out, you will be prompted to make a voluntary contribution to Zeffy to cover the cost of payment processing. This fee is not mandatory, and you can change the amount to $0
The Sunday afternoon Opening Ceremony, Daily Business Sessions, and the Closing session will take place at the McCormick Place – West Building located at 2317 S. Indiana Avenue.
Elks Day at Wrigley Field – Cardinals at Cubs: Celebrate Independence Day at historic Chicago Cubs home field as the Cubs proudly partner with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks for a once-in-a-century milestone—the 100th Anniversary of the Elks National Memorial Building. Information and reservations can be found HERE.
Opening Ceremonies: Sunday, July 5th, 2026 ∙ 4-6 pm
Daily Business Sessions will be held Monday and Tuesday from 8 am until 12 noon (estimated end time). Wednesday will run from 8 am until 11 am. Please remember, this is Red Coat!!
Registration will be at McCormick Place. Pre-registration for the Grand Lodge Convention will be open on the Grand Lodge website. I will keep you posted when they open the portal. Pre-registration is recommended to avoid lines and safely receive your credentials and other critical attendee information. Everyone must register for the convention and only registered Elks will be admitted to the business sessions, seminars and workshops. Registration is also required to enter the vendors areas. Registration is cash, check, credit, or debit cards.
The seminar for DD designates will be held on Monday, July 6 and Tuesday, July 7 at 12:45 PM in the McCormick Place West building, room to be determined.
The varying committee seminars/workshops will be scheduled starting as early as 9 AM and following the General Sessions on Monday and Tuesday. These will be listed on the website after June 1, 2026.
As time draws closer to the Grand Lodge Convention, members should log into the Grand Lodge website and check the Grand Lodge Convention section as updates and information will be posted by the Grand Lodge. They will post the schedule of events for the week, the busing schedule, etc. We will also have available information as it comes in here on this webpage.
Take The South Shore To Chicago!
If you don’t want to drive to Chicago and pay for parking for the 161 st Grand Lodge Convention, July 4-8, consider taking the South Shore Railway instead. There are 3 parking areas that you can drive to catch the train.
- South Bend International Airport. Parking is $10/day. Fare round-trip is $31.50.
- Portage/Ogden Dunes/Dunes Park. Parking is Free. Fare round-trip is $20.00
- Hammond/East Chicago. Parking is free. Fare round-trip is $15.50
Fares Subject To Changs and it will drop you off at McCormick Place where the Hyatt
Regency McCormick Place is located and the site of all the convention activities.
You can purchase your tickets at mysouthshoreline.com or download the South Shore
Line mobile app.
Please let Lance Gustin and/or Brian Stokes know if you’d like to take the train no later
than April 15, 2026, so they can start working with the South Shore on logistics for the
week of getting everyone to and from Chicago.
Please email them at lancegustin@live.com with the following information:
Your Name, Your Email, Your Arrival Date to Chicago, Your Departure Date from Chicago, Your Phone Number, and the number of people traveling:
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to Lance or Brian. We will see you in Chicago!
Please contact with any questions at lancegustin@live.com or 574-303-8380.
Fraternally, Lance Gustin
4th Vice President, IEA Convention Director
Future sites and dates:
2027 – July 4-7 at Denver, CO
2028 – July 2-5 at Baltimore, MD