Fairs, Expositions

A World's Fair is any of various large expositions held since the mid 19th century. The official sanctioning body is the Bureau of International Expositions (usually abbreviated BIE, from the organization's name in French, Bureau International des Expositions). more...

BIE-approved fairs are divided into a number of types: universal, and international or specialized. They usually last for between 3 and 6 months. In addition, countries can hold their own 'fair', 'exposition', or 'exhibition', without BIE endorsement.

See also List of world's fairs.

Universal expositions

Universal Expositions encompass universal themes that affect the full gamut of human experience, usually at a unique period of time for humankind. These Universal Expos usually have themes based on which pavilions are made to represent the country's opinion on that theme. The theme for the Expo at Lisbon (1998) was "water" and the theme for the 2005 Expo in Japan was "nature's wisdom". Universal expositions are usually held less frequently than specialized or international expositions because they are more expensive. To distinguish them from lesser fairs, they require total design of pavilion buildings from the ground up. As a result, nations compete for the most outstanding or memorable structure—recent examples include Japan, France, Morocco & Spain at Expo '92. Recent Universal Expositions include Brussels Expo '58, Seattle Expo '62, known as the Century 21 Exposition, Montreal Expo '67, San Antonio HemisFair '68, Osaka Expo '70, Knoxville, Tennessee Expo '82, New Orleans Expo '84, Vancouver, British Columbia Expo '86, Brisbane Expo '88, Seville Expo '92, Lisbon Expo '98, and Hanover, Germany Expo 2000. The Expo 2005 was held at Aichi Prefecture, Japan. Sometimes pre-fabricated structures are also used to minimize costs for developing countries or for countries from a geographical block to share space (i.e. Plaza of the Americas at Seville '92).

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