AraFest’26
August 29 – September 3, 2026
Ames, Iowa
6G is expected to “connecting the unconnected” while advancing service frontiers such as hyper-reliable, low-latency communications (HRLLC). Pioneering use cases such as collaborative aerial and ground vehicles for precision weed control, agriculture is an ideal industry vertical for piloting 6G technologies towards their real-world adoption in rural regions and beyond. With worldwide 6G efforts transitioning from requirement investigation to solution development, 2026 is a critical year to solidify the strategy and to build the ecosystem partnership for addressing the last-acre connectivity challenge of agriculture while advancing 6G!
With the world’s premiere AgTech event Farm Progress Show coming to its coverage area during September 1-3, 2026 and with its first-of-its-kind platforms supporting at-scale, high-capacity wireless x-haul, heterogeneous wireless access, and LEO satellite communications, ARA serves as a living lab for fostering transformative collaboration among wireless and agriculture ecosystems. Building on the success of prior ARA community events such as AraFest’24, the mission of AraFest’26 is to celebrate progress across wireless and AgTech, to strengthen collaborative communities and scaffolding, and to ignite wireless and AgTech innovation initiatives.
There are ample opportunities for you to co-shape AraFest”26:
- Interested in giving a keynote/plenary-demo, organizing/joining an industry/government/community panel, or leading a session of a specific topic (e.g., AI across wireless and AgTech)? Please email Hongwei Zhang, Principal Investigator of ARA and Director of the Center for Wireless, Communities and Innovation (WiCI) at Iowa State University;
- Interested in using a booth at the Farm Progress Show to engage 150,000+ visitors from around world? Please email e2@arawireless.org;
- To attend AraFest’26 and enjoy the training, collaboration, competition, and talk/poster activities the program has to offer, please check here.
August 29 – 30, 2024: ARA User Program (training, collaboration, compete events)
Location: ISU Student Innovation Center (SICTR)
August 31, 2026 (Main Program Day 1)
Location: ISU Alumni Center
8:00 – 9:00 am: Registration & Breakfast
9:30 – 10:00 am: ARA Update & 6G-AgTech Synergy
- Hongwei Zhang, ARA PI; Director (Center for Wireless, Communities and Innovation – WiCI), Richardson Professor (ECE), Iowa State University
10:00 am – 10:45 am: Keynote 1
10:45 am – 11:15 am: Break
11:15 – 12:30 pm: Industry/Government/Community Panel 1
12:30 – 2:00 pm: Lunch
2:00 pm – 2:45 pm: Keynote // Industry/Government/Community Panel 2
2:45 – 4:30 pm: Plenary Demos
4:30 – 6:00 pm: Field Trip to ARA Site at ISU Ag Engineering & Agronomy Research Farm
6:00 – 7:30 pm: Demos, Posters, and Reception
September 1, 2026 (Main Program Day 2)
Location: ISU Alumni Center & Farm Progress Show
8:00 – 9:00 am: Registration & Breakfast
9:00 – 10:30 am: ARA User Community Highlights
10:30 – 11:00 am: Break
11:00am – 12:30 pm: Industry/Government/Community Panel 3
12:30 – 1:30 pm: Lunch
1:30 – 4:00 pm: Exhibits & Demos on ARA Stage at 2026 Farm Progress Show
September 2-3, 2026 (Demo & Exhibit)
Location: Farm Progress Show
8:00 am – 4:00 pm: Wireless & AgTech Exhibit
Note: all times are in US Central Time.
Venue
AraFest’26 will be held at the Iowa State University Student Innovation Center (606 Bissell Rd, Ames, IA 50011) on August 29-30, at the Iowa State University Alumni Center (429 Alumni Ln, Ames, IA 50011) on August 31 and September 1, with part of the program on September 1 held at the 2026 arm Progress Show, the largest U.S. outdoor farm show.
Fun facts about the Farm Progress Show can be found here.
Fun facts about the Iowa State University campus and the City of Ames can be found here.
Hotels
With the Farm Progress Show coming to the ARA coverage area, hundreds of thousands of visitors will book up hotels around the City of Ames soon. AraFest’26 participants are strongly encouraged to book hotels ASAP before hotel rooms run out or become very pricy.
Gateway Hotel and Conference Center
2100 Green Hills Drive, Ames, IA
(515)292-8600
~$284 per night; free cancelation within 24 hours of stay*
Radisson Hotel and Conference Center, Ames
2609 University Blvd, Ames, IA
(515)259-1973
~$285 per night; free cancelation within 24 hours of stay*
Best Western Plus University Park Inn & Suites
2500 University Blvd, Ames, IA 50010
(515)296-2500
~$160 per night; free Cancelation within 24 hours of stay*
Econo Lodge
2600 SE 16th St, Ames, IA 50010
(515)233-6060
~$215 per night; free cancelation within 24 hours of stay*
Other great hotels in Ames can be found here.
* Information is for informal reference only. Please check with the individual hotels for the latest information on room rates and cancellation polices.
Travel
Many commercial and commuter airlines serve the Des Moines International Airport (DSM) which is 35 miles away from Ames, Iowa. Private planes use the Ames Municipal Airport. Car rental is available at the Des Moines airport.
Parking & Transportation
Parking is available at the Iowa State University Alumni Center (lots B3, C3, C4, and C5), and detailed information can be found at here.
Transportation is expected to be provided between the Alumni Center and the Schilletter Village (SUV), in the early morning (before the first session) and late afternoon (after the last session).
[Registration link to be announced in early 2026]
| Type | Early Registration (until August 2, 2026) | Regular Registration (until August 16 / 23, 2026) |
| Registration Fee | $300 (in person) $100 (online) | $400 (in person, until August 12) $150 (online, until August 26) |
| Fee Waiver/ Discount | Full consideration for potential waiver/discount of registration fee | Consideration for potential waiver/discount of registration fee only if fund is available after all the early registrants have been considered. |
| Student/Academic Travel Grant | Full consideration for students in U.S. institutions; full consideration will be given to non-student participants from academia/non-profits, if travel fund permits. | Consideration will be given to U.S. students (and potentially non-student academics/non-profits in U.S.) only if travel fund is available after all the early registrants have been considered. |
(Note: to help best plan the event, registration at your earliest convenience and well before the deadlines is appreciated.)
Waiver/Discount of Registration Fee: to make the event accessible to as many participants as possible, the ARA team is trying its best to secure resources for potentially providing a registration fee waiver/discount to participants who may need it. If the registration fee waiver is critical to your participation, please contact us at e2@arawireless.org.
Student/Academic Travel Grant: a number of travel grants are expected to be made available to students/academics/researchers in U.S. institutions/non-profits, with priority given to students over non-student academics/non-profit-researchers. If you are interested in applying for a travel grant, please submit the following information in a single PDF file via this application form.
- CV
- [Student Only] Personal statement (no more than 2 pages) with approval signature from the student’s advisor/supervisor. It is recommended that the personal statement discuss (1) the applicant’s research accomplishments so far, (2) how the participation in AraFest’26 (e.g., ARA Use Training Session) may help with the applicant’s current and future research, spelling out specific research topics for which ARA can serve as a testbed, and (3) whether or not the participant will be willing to serve as an active user of ARA and share ARA use experience and insight with the broad community for collaborative learning.
Poster & Talk Sessions: We encourage all grant applicants and attendees to submit for the Poster Session and/or Talk Session using this form.
- Poster Session: Showcase your current research and/or how you plan to use ARA. Awards will be given for Best Poster and Honorable Mention.
- Talk Session: Briefly present your research and how you have used—or plan to use—ARA.
Travel grant application deadline: applications will be reviewed and grants will be awarded on a first-come-first-serve basis; participants are invited to submit applications ASAP and by 11:59pm September 12, 2025 US Pacific Time. (Applications may be considered after September 12, but early applications are strongly encouraged.)
Early registration deadline: 11:59pm August 2, 2026 US Pacific Time
Regular registration deadline: 11:59pm August 16/23, 2026 US Pacific Time
AraFest’26 is made possible by the generous support of the following sponsors. If your organization may be interested in co-sponsoring the event, please contact partner@arawireless.org.
Platinum
To reach out to the ARA team, please email e2@arawireless.org.