Your SCALE Fest Long Weekend: Here's What Four Days in Barcelona Looks Like

You’ve seen the emails and social media posts. Perhaps, you’ve heard people talking about it?

“Top of my EU Show list.” Richard Vaughton, Yes Consulting

“It’s going to be the best European STR event in Q3 of 2026 by a landslide.” Mark Simpson, Boostly

“Going to be brilliant.” Humphrey Bowles, Truvi

“SCALE has created a grown-up playground where business meets festival, and one of the best professional communities will come together.” Amber Hurdle

This October, we’re designing the mother of all STR long weekends in Barcelona. Part conference, part festival. 100% SCALE. Here’s what to expect.

Thursday 22 October

You land in Barcelona. The evening is still warm. You check in, use the SCALE discovery map to find a tapas bar and open the app to see who else has arrived.

Your peer-to-peer matchmaker meetings are already in your calendar. Before you’ve set foot in the venue, you know who you’re looking for: matched on your business profile, your current challenges and what you’re good at.

The long STR weekend commences.

Friday 23 October: Fringe Day

Definitely worth arriving early for!

The WVREC — Women’s Vacation Rental European Conference kicks off at 9am. 60 attendees, inspiring female speakers and an intentionally intimate vibe. I left last year’s conference a different person — in a good way! SCALE Fest ticket holders get 25% off. The two events were designed to work together.

At 16.00, The Exit Door opens in Sala Aqua at the World Trade Center, the home of SCALE Fest this weekend. Two hours with short-term rental investors, sellers and operators talking openly about what it takes to sell, buy or merge a business. Real buyer and seller experiences, the current acquisition market and how to value your business. If an exit is anywhere on your horizon, this is the session to attend.

Festival Pass holders are in. If you purchase an Education or Connection pass, you can add The Exit Door for just €49.

If you are a Festival Pass holder, enjoy a welcome evening with speakers and associations from 20.00 to 22.00 at the World Trade Center. With two full days ahead, the early finish is intentional.

Saturday 24 October: SCALE Fest Day 1

Each morning from 9:00–9:50, Connection and Festival Pass holders can join Meet Your Match. Over coffee, you’ll meet the property managers we’ve matched you with for relaxed, informal conversations centred around shared challenges, ambitions and experience.

09.15. Wellness kick-start. A guided breathing session with Emma Cole before the main stage opens. Sounds optional? It shouldn’t be — it’s the best way to stay focused for the morning ahead.

The auditorium keynote sessions open at 10am on day one. Global speakers, including: Steve Schwab (Casago), Rachel Alday (Abode Luxury Rentals), Humphrey Bowles (Truvi), with more still to be confirmed.

The STRyder Cup puts US and European operators in the same room to compare notes. Same industry, very different operating realities. The gaps between the two sides are more useful than you’d expect.

The Concierge Conversation covers what exceptional hospitality really looks like. We’re bringing together a hotel, hybrid and short-term rentals expert — each who approach hospitality differently — to discuss how we can raise the bar for guest experience.

Workshops run through the day in the breakout rooms. Smaller groups with more focus, answering the questions you have around diversification, pricing, scaling and staffing.

The Aqua Room hosts our Huddles with views across Barcelona’s port (limited seats per table). The conversations here will be chosen by ticket holders and registration will be required to join — but these are the conversations you’ll be thinking about on the journey home.

Daily Face-Off Sessions happen at the end of each day in Sala Agora (Exhibitor’s Hall): two experts, one topic, opposing positions argued live. You can vote on who makes the stronger case.

In the auditorium, the open mic sessions at the end of each day offer up the floor to attendees, with debates that will likely continue into the evening.

Programme wraps at 16.30. Post-show drinks. Then the evening party starts at 20.00. Come ready to stay until midnight!

Sunday 25 October: SCALE Fest Day 2

Another wellness kick-start. Another Meet Your Match session. Another full day!

The programme is built as a two-day experience, rather than two standalone days. What started on Saturday continues into Sunday. This year, we have purposefully created an agenda with no track overlap, so you’re never choosing between two sessions you want. The agenda has breathing room in it, for follow-up conversations and time spent with your growth partners in Sala Agora.

Festival Pass holders start Sunday with breakfast in the VIP Lounge and will also enjoy a catered lunch. The lounge runs 10.00 to 17.00 both days, giving you somewhere to recharge, take a call or sit down with a colleague or partner and have a decent conversation.

The auditorium kicks off at 11am with perhaps our craziest session in the history of SCALE! Built to be remembered (and you will), bringing together internationally renowned brand specialist, Amber Hurdle, accompanied by a live DJ set from Steve Taggart (My Getaways). The session is designed as an immersive experience, in which you’ll explore what your business could become through sound, storytelling and strategic thinking.

During the afternoon you can catch three Titans of the STR Industry, as we dive inside the minds of the leaders building the world’s largest property management companies. What does it take to scale a hospitality business across countries, cultures and markets?

The main show closes at 16.30 with networking drinks in Sala Agora.

Monday 26 October: Homeward Bound

You head home on Monday 26 October with a full contacts list, a clearer head and at least three things you’re changing when you get back to the office. The people you’ll share the weekend with are building from 10 to 40,000 units. Some are growing fast. Some preparing to exit. Some just want to know what the operators two steps ahead of them are strategising on.

Whatever brings you to SCALE Fest, we promise you won’t leave the same way you arrived.

Your Pass

Three ways into the weekend. All exclusively for property managers managing 10+ units.

• Education Pass from €199 — Full two-day programme, workshops, auditorium, one roundtable, post-show drinks and evening party. We’ve set up food trucks on site, but lunch is on you.
• Connection Pass from €349 — Everything above plus express entry, lunch both days, multiple roundtables, peer-to-peer matching, full session recordings and SCALE app attendee access. You arrive knowing who you’re looking for.
• Festival Pass from €449 — The full long weekend. The Exit Door on Friday afternoon, private welcome evening with speakers on Friday night, breakfast and private catered lunch both days, VIP Lounge access and the SCALE goody bag. Only 100 available.

Lowest pricing available only until 31 July.

More info →

SCALE Fest 2026. World Trade Center, Barcelona. 24–25 October. Part conference, part festival. 100% SCALE.