the quilt show is Houston is called (The International Quilt Festival) it is the 'biggie' it is a very large Trade Show where all the businesses in the industry go to see what is new, buy/order for their shops, take classes & workshops... being a trade show it is not sponsored by just the AQS or MQS (Mancusco quilting shows) or any of the other *regional* sponsors. companies/vendors come from all over. the public is welcome to go to certain parts of the activities- other 'parts' are business. the AQS and MQS (societies) welcome people from everywhere to participate in their shows- there are other *International* shows in other parts of the world- Japan and the United Kingdom both have Large quilt festivals every year. then there are smaller- more localized quilt shows- (which of course cost a lot less for vendors/participants to participate in) sponsored by many different companies. (the 'biggies' AQS, MQS, Houston, Japan and UK) are fairly expensive and in ways *specialized* --- I have heard that Houston is the largest Quilting Trade Show *but I do not know if that is true- just what I have heard.