ORLANDO, Fla. — Delegates puffed on e-cigarettes between chants of “freedom!” Educational booths proclaimed the virtues of hemp, “trickle-up economics” and the literature of Ayn Rand. A woman on stilts wearing purple angel wings greeted activists as they milled between seminars on drug war policies and on “how to abolish the government in three steps.”

In a year when the two major parties are consumed by tensions, defections and chaos, the Libertarian Party, which sees itself as their alternative, displayed some of the same traits as it wrestled with nominating two former Republican governors for its presidential ticket at its annual convention over the weekend. But there was also a palpable sense of excitement at the event, held at a hotel here less than 10 miles from Disney World.

For an antiwar party that promotes legalizing marijuana and tearing up the tax code, 2016 has brought hope that acceptance in the political mainstream is imminent amid broad discontent with the probable nominees from the major parties.

“We have been given the gift of Trump and Clinton,” said Larry Sharpe, a businessman and candidate for the Libertarian vice-presidential nomination. “Their ears are open, and I want them to hear who we are and vote for us for who we are.”