Sioux Falls at a Glance
Location: Southeastern South Dakota on the Big Sioux River, near the Iowa and Minnesota state lines
Access: Interstates 29 and 90; Sioux Falls Regional Airport; Brookings Regional Airport; Sioux Gateway Airport; Huron Regional Airport
Hotel rooms: 4,300
Contact Info:
Experience Sioux Falls
605-275-6060
experiencesiouxfalls.com
Sioux Falls Convention Center
Built: 1996
Exhibit Space: 100,000 square feet for the center, including two exhibit halls (16,800 square feet each) and a grand ballroom
Other Meeting Spaces: 13 meeting rooms
Meeting Hotels
Sheraton Sioux Falls and Convention Center
Guest Rooms: 243
Meeting Space: 5,930 square feet
Holiday Inn City Centre
Guest Rooms: 290
Meeting Space: 15,000 square feet
Canopy by Hilton (opening January 2025)
Guest Rooms: 216
Meeting Space: 20,000 square feet
Best Western Plus Ramkota Hotel and Conference Center
Guest Rooms: 223
Meeting Space: 60,000 square feet
Who’s Meeting in Sioux Falls
Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival
Attendees: 1,800
Sioux Empire Kennel Club: Dog Show and Trials
Attendees: 1,700
Latham Seeds
Attendees: 300
If event attendees don’t have a strong impression of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, before they arrive, they will have one when they leave.
“For years, South Dakota was referred to as a flyover state,” said Allyson Kasch, director of sales for Experience Sioux Falls. “When people finally started showing up, they liked Sioux Falls so much that for several years, we were counted as one of the top 40 cities in the U.S.”
This urban oasis in the middle of the Great Plains is full of inviting scenery, activities and first-class meeting amenities.
Destination Highlights
Sioux Falls has experienced phenomenal growth. Downtown and its eclectic shops, galleries and eateries along historic Phillips Avenue are infused with a creative spirit. On the walls of the Phillips Avenue Diner, 75 years of change is documented in historic photos of the city. The diner, housed in a former Airstream trailer, whips up specials like the Elvis waffle, served with peanut butter and bananas.
The most striking new development is the $200 million Steel District near Falls Park. When complete, it will have shops, offices, residential spaces, five restaurants and a 216-room Canopy by Hilton hotel with 20,000 square feet of meeting space. The hotel is set to open in early 2025.
No surprise, the 123-acre Falls Park is the city’s most popular attraction. It’s an amazing sight in the middle of downtown, as the Big Sioux River drops up to 100 feet over massive boulders. Observation towers and tree-lined walking trails afford spectacular views.
Downtown, the SculptureWalk showcases more than 80 pieces of South Dakota art, and the enormous “Arc of Dreams” sculpture serves as the centerpiece of the city’s skyline. Its stainless-steel arc spans 85 feet above the Big Sioux.
Distinctive Venues
As offsite venues go, the Washington Pavilion of Arts and Science is pure renaissance. Built of rare, tough Sioux quartzite in Neoclassical style, it’s where live Broadway tours, concerts and chamber recitals are staged. And, it’s home to art galleries and a science center, the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, the South Dakota Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the South Dakota African American History Museum and the SculptureWalk Visitors Center.
Gatherings here can be held in a 4,200-square-foot sculpture garden; an 1,800-seat theater, or a smaller one with 150 seats; a 160-seat CineDome or a 164-seat state-of-the-art planetarium.
Industrial ambience best describes the downtown corporate event space Monick Yards and its expansive warehouse windows, wood features, built-in marble bars and 16-foot ceilings. Its 12,000 square feet of event space includes a 3,000-square-foot grand hall and a 5,025-square-foot reception hall. Two private suites make ideal breakout rooms.
“Our interior is thoughtful, with attention to detail and design,” said Amy Boes, venue director and co-owner. “There’s lots of natural light. And we can accommodate different types of meetings because one of our main spaces is large and the other smaller.”
A new outdoor venue, Levitt at the Falls, presents as many as 50 free outdoor music concerts every summer on a lush green lawn. Its mission is to build community through music, and the venue can be booked for groups of up to 4,000 people.
Major Meeting Space
On downtown’s outskirts, the Sioux Falls Convention Center has been well maintained with numerous upgrades since it opened in 1996. Its 100,000 square feet of event space includes 13 meeting rooms, an exhibit hall and a 50,400-square-foot ballroom. The attached 243-guestroom Sheraton Sioux Falls and Convention Center adds another 5,930 square feet of meeting space, including 10 event rooms and five breakouts. It also has an on-site restaurant and lounge, and a fitness center.
The convention center and Sheraton are part of the Denny Sanford Premiere Center (DSPC) complex, home to Sioux Falls Arena, the Sioux Falls Stampede pro ice hockey team, a minor league baseball stadium, a track and field facility and 132,000 square feet of function space. The complex is consistently ranked as a top entertainment venue in the state and it handles concerts, sporting events, conventions, meetings and trade shows.
Back downtown, the 290-room Holiday Inn City Centre’s 15,000 square feet of meeting space includes its 10th-floor Starlite Ballroom with breathtaking downtown views for events of up to 333.
“Anyone can easily walk to downtown attractions and restaurants,” said Melany Pravacek, the hotel’s director of sales. “Our staff has longevity and can call many return guests by name.”
After the Meeting
Housed in a 1920s building adorned by a remarkable mural, Monks Ale House is South Dakota’s first craft beer bar. It features a rotating menu of more than 50 beers, an extensive wine list and popular pizzas.
To blow off a little steam after meeting all day, attendees can head to Remedy Brewing Company for a Queen Bee Honey Cream Ale and a game of pickleball on one of Remedy Pickleball Pub’s three courts. Remedy also serves wine, cider and mead.
Parker’s Bistro downtown serves local farm-to-table dishes and has a private event space for dinners of 35 or cocktails for 50. Attached to Parker’s, the new full-service Myrtle’s Fur Vault and Bar — once a real fur vault — has 1930s ambience, private space and an award-winning wine list.
If after-meeting leg-stretching has more appeal than sipping, Great Shots golf entertainment venue’s golf simulator technology lets customers play some of the world’s top courses.
And at Nelson Park, a 25,000-square-foot ice-skating plaza, one of the nation’s largest, has opened, while Great Bear Recreational Park has wintertime downhill skiing, tubing, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. Group lessons are available.
