Boston 2026 World Stamp Expo: Everything You Need to Know
The 12th international philatelic exhibition comes to Boston May 23–30: Here’s what collectors and curious visitors can expect
For one week in May, the world capital of all things stamp-related will be Boston, host to the Boston 2026 World Expo, the 12th international philatelic exhibition of the United States.
An event for all ages and interests
We at the Postal Service are packed up and ready. We can’t wait to catch up with collectors, connect with postal officials from other countries, and experience firsthand just how much stamps mean to the world.
“This is an event for everyone,” says Claudia Daniels, Manager, Stamp Development. “Serious collectors will bring their lifetime of knowledge to the show, and they’ll be right alongside people who attend because they love the art and culture represented on stamps. Many others will go just because they enjoy putting the perfect stamp on their mail and now want to learn more. The Boston expo really offers something for all ages and interests.”
From May 23 to May 30, 2026, this free, once-per-decade event will fill the halls and meeting rooms of the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center. Spanning 352,000 square feet of exhibition space, the expo will feature a vast bourse — the philatelic term for a collectors’ and dealers’ marketplace — as well as hundreds of collectors’ club and society meetings, competitive exhibitions, issuance ceremonies for new stamps, and displays and exhibits by the postal authorities of many nations.
What to expect
This event offers rare and remarkable opportunities for stamp collectors to connect in fellowship with colleagues and friends, build their collections, learn from experts, and fully immerse themselves in their hobby. For curious newcomers and the general public, the expo offers eye-catching displays of visually stunning stamps, opportunities to learn about other countries and their cultures, and a rich sense of tradition in a fun, family-friendly setting.
“You’ll find yourself buying stamps and other postal items just because they look cool,” Daniels says. “An expo this big, with such global reach, really makes clear how stamps combine art, culture, history, and international goodwill in ways that go above and beyond their tiny size.”
The expo also offers opportunities to enjoy first-day-of-issue ceremonies for several U.S. stamps, including the beautiful American Bison stamp, with artwork adapted from a 1923 issuance, and the International Peace stamp, which features an elegant origami crane.
“We have a few more first-day-of-issue ceremonies in the works, and we’ll reveal them soon,” Daniels says. “The Postal Service’s 2026 stamp program has a few more surprises in store.”
Revealing the winner of the Stamp Encore contest
The Boston expo will also be the site for the big reveal of the long-awaited “Stamp Encore” issuance. Chosen by the votes of the public from 25 popular stamps issued in recent years, this stamp — for now a well-guarded secret — is a reminder that the public ultimately has a strong voice in the U.S. stamp program.
“We received around half a million votes, proof that stamps continue to be important to Americans,” says Lisa Bobb-Semple, Director of Stamp Services. “The public could vote online or use a mail-in ballot. We received so many pieces of mail! One of the fun parts for us was to see what stamps people used to mail in their ballots.”
Since the beginning of 2026, an envelope carrying the mysterious Stamp Encore winner has traveled from one first-day ceremony to another, like a tiny version of the Olympic torch.
“By the time the envelope arrives in Boston for the winner’s unveiling, it will be fully decorated with the first-day cancellations from every event it ‘attended,’” Bobb-Semple says. She adds that holding a first-day ceremony for this issuance at the Boston expo adds a fun new twist to an already special event.
“Typically at stamp unveilings, the public has already seen an image of the stamp ahead of time,” she points out. “Not with Stamp Encore! It will be a true surprise, with the whole world waiting to find out which stamp is the winner.”
The whole world will indeed be represented in Boston in May, and Bobb-Semple says she’s looking forward to welcoming attendees from countless other countries and sharing the work of the Postal Service with them.
“It’s the largest international stamp show, and it coincides with the 250th anniversary of American independence,” she says. “It’s a huge stage, and there’s no better time or place to showcase our stamp program. It truly represents the best of our nation.”