Card Fest at Loft18 Mandeville brings a genuinely different format to the Northshore card calendar on Saturday, September 19, 2026. Loft18 is an entertainment venue built around golf simulator bays, a full bar and a restaurant, and Card Fest turns that space into an afternoon card show — dealer tables on the floor, food and drinks in hand, and a social atmosphere that plays much closer to a hobby meetup than a traditional convention hall grind. If you have grown tired of fluorescent-lit banquet rooms, this is the show to try.
The dealer mix is sports-forward with a healthy trading card game presence. Expect NFL, NBA and MLB singles from vintage through current-year releases, with Saints and Pelicans inventory front and center in September as football season ramps up. Modern breakers bring Prizm, Optic, Select and Topps Chrome; vintage dealers bring 1960s and 1970s Topps in raw and graded form. Pokemon is well represented with singles binders and sealed product, and you will typically find Magic: The Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh! and One Piece tables too. Rounding out the floor: graded slabs, autographed memorabilia, unopened wax, comics and collectible figures.
Hours are 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM — a compact five-hour window, so this is a show you commit to rather than drift into. The late-morning start makes it easy to pair with a Northshore lunch, and because Loft18 has a working kitchen and bar you never actually have to leave the building. Admission is a low door fee and children are generally welcome; the venue is family friendly during daytime hours. If you want to make an afternoon of it, simulator bays can be booked separately, though availability on show days is limited.
Loft18 sits just off Highway 190 in Mandeville with a dedicated parking lot, and it is an easy drive from Covington, Slidell, Madisonville and Abita Springs. From the New Orleans side, the Causeway drops you within fifteen minutes of the door.
This event suits casual collectors, social traders and anyone bringing a partner or friend who is not deep in the hobby — the bar and food make it a comfortable hang for non-collectors, which is not something most card shows can claim. Serious vintage hunters should still come, but should arrive at open, since the smaller footprint means the best material moves fast.
Tips for the day: get there at 11:00 AM sharp for first crack at the tables, because a five-hour show compresses the usual buying rhythm. Bring cash — the venue takes cards but individual dealers may not. Carry sleeves and a top loader stack for anything raw you pick up. If you are hunting a specific player or set, tell dealers directly; in a room this size, word travels and someone will point you to the right table. And if you are bringing cards to sell, keep them organized and be ready to negotiate quickly, because the shorter day gives dealers less time to evaluate large lots.
Follow the Card Fest and Loft18 Mandeville social accounts for the dealer roster, admission confirmation and any add-on events scheduled around the show.