MAU Vegas 2026

Tuesday May 19 through Thursday May 21, 2026 at the MGM Grand Conference Center. Side Week starts Monday May 18 — and the unofficial Side Week is denser than people expect. Sunday-PM arrivals + Friday-AM departures is the recommended shape.

mauvegas.com/register. Conference passes range from expo-only to Clubhouse VIP. Some Side Week events (Bidease Limited Spots, Founders Clubs, Sensor Tower / Google Ads / AppsFlyer Prime Time, Moloco ranch retreat) require a separate RSVP per event — most via the embedded Luma calendar.

All 112 events are listed on the official Luma calendar (cal-xmKYooSKp6wJrIQ) embedded across the mauvegas.com Side Week pages. Each event has its own RSVP link — luma.com short code or a sponsor-hosted landing page. Most are free if you're attending MAU; some Limited-Spots adventures (Bidease's Grand Canyon helicopter, Desert Supercar Run) charge a fee. Status flags (Waitlist / Sold Out / Near Capacity) change rapidly — check each link.

Mon: Apps Legacy Gala, Prime Time @ Hakkasan, Moloco's Mojave ranch retreat. Tue: MAU Run Club, Power Breakfast, Bidease's Tue dinners at Zaytinya / Partage / é. Wed: Jonas Brothers tiers (RevX / StackAdapt / InMobi all have allocations — some sold out 4+ weeks ahead), MAU or Nowhere late-night, Bidease's Restaurant Guy Savoy dinner, App Founders Dinner, the outliers dinner, Aperture Sessions. Thu: Women in Leader(sip), Capital Partners Dinner. Adventure slots (Bidease's Grand Canyon helicopter / Desert Supercar Run / Allegiant Stadium / Spa) — all Limited Spots, book early.

Sunday afternoon at the latest. Monday May 18 is the unofficially most-valuable day — Apps Legacy Gala 7:30 PM, Prime Time @ Hakkasan 6 PM (Sensor Tower + Google Ads + AppsFlyer 100-leader private room), Moloco's Mojave ranch retreat 2 PM for senior leaders. EDC (May 15–17) means Saturday or earlier arrivals walk into peak-summer chaos. Sunday post-3 PM is the sweet spot.

MGM Grand (Conference HQ — your badge is your room key) is the easiest. Park MGM / NoMad next door is the upgraded aesthetic + walking distance to Dolby Live for Wed's Jonas Brothers. Aria is the cleanest design, 5 min walk, Carbone in-house. Cosmopolitan is the marquee Strip-nearby option, ~10 min walk. Downtown (Plaza / Circa) is $150+/night cheaper but adds $25 Lyft each way.

With discipline. Red Rock Canyon (30 min) or Valley of Fire (1 hr) fit a 6–9 AM window before keynote. Hoover Dam (45 min) needs a half-day — only Friday post-conference. Grand Canyon West (2.5 hr each way) is a full day, only viable Thursday or Friday onward. Bidease runs a Grand Canyon helicopter tour as a same-day option throughout — Limited Spots.

Electric Daisy Carnival brings 400,000+ people to Las Vegas Motor Speedway the weekend before MAU. Strip hotels spike to summer-peak prices Thu–Sun, Lyft surge is constant, restaurants double-booked. Don't extend backward into EDC weekend unless you actually want to do EDC — the overlap is more stress than fun. Sunday afternoon, EDC's checkout wave has cleared.

Three months minimum. MAU + EDC overlap pushes the entire Strip to capacity. The MGM Grand conference block sells out 6+ weeks ahead; Park MGM / Aria / NoMad fill 4 weeks ahead. After mid-April you're paying $700+/night for anything walkable to the venue. Downtown stays open longest but adds $50/night in Lyft costs.

Conference layer (jacket — ballrooms run cold). Light pants + button-down or equivalent for dinners. Swimsuit for the pool. Comfortable shoes (Strip walking is more than the map suggests). Sunglasses + sunscreen for the day-trip mornings. Reusable water bottle. 10,000+ mAh battery pack. Conference badge protector. The dress code is smart-casual; outright suits are rare.

Highs 85–94°F (29–34°C), lows 60s, almost zero rain. Pool season opens. Outdoor anything (Red Rock, Valley of Fire, Hoover Dam) needs an early-morning or post-5 PM window. Indoor conference floor is over-AC'd to ~68°F — bring a layer.

Vegas is the only US conference city where after-hours infrastructure is literally engineered for it. Austin (SXSW) and Miami (Art Basel) require finding venues; Vegas has them on every casino floor. The trade-off: less sense of place, no local culture you walk into casually. If you want a city that feels like a city, leave the Strip — the Arts District (Esther's Kitchen, Velveteen Rabbit) is a 15-min Lyft. If you want conference + after-hours efficiency engineered for you, Vegas is unmatched.