World's Fair and Exposition

[RestedTraveler]

Does anyone realize that the last World's Fair to be held in North America was Expo86 in Vancounver, BC? This probably has a great deal to do with the overwhelming financial disaster of the 1984 World's Fair in New Orleans, LA just on the heels of the shining success of the 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville, TN.

This is probably purely a pipe dream, but I, for one, think it could happen...the Upstate (specifically Greenville) could, from May through October one year, host a World's Fair and Exposition and show all of North America that it could be financially successful again.

New York City, NY (2012), Las Vegas, NV (2013), and San Francisco, CA and Toronto, ON (2015) are already considering bids, so they may very well beat us to it.

I'll open the floor to comments/opinions/laughter/etc.

[waccamatt]

Maybe it would help the Upstate of South Carolina to become more open-minded.

[jfl25]

How could the upstate go about recruiting something like the worlds fair. I think it would be great for the area and state economy.Greenville has the highest per capita international investment, so maybe that could be a selling point. Also the Global trade center should help .

[RestedTraveler]

How could the upstate go about recruiting something like the worlds fair. I think it would be great for the area and state economy.Greenville has the highest per capita international investment, so maybe that could be a selling point. Also the Global trade center should help .

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well, to get the ball rolling, we'd have to decide that we want to throw a big party for the world as a community. Then, the community would need to form a committee to put together and submit a bid. In this case, the bid would be submitted to the International Governing body (the Bureau International des Expositions) rather than to a National Governing body (as would be required for the Olympic Games).

Here's a link to their web site for those interested in reading up on this:

http://www.bie-paris.org/

[gs3]

Maybe it would help the Upstate of South Carolina to become more open-minded.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Maybe you should visit more often! Very open minded here. Just people enjoying a quality life in a GREAT area of the country. As a liberal, gay man here, I can tell you, Upstate is just as open minded as any of the larger cities I've lived in (Atlanta and Dallas to name two).

Not sure what your comment had to do with this thread or RT's post, so back to the topic.

RT, I think thats a great dream! With the amount of international exposure Greenville and Upstate receive, it could someday happen! I could easily imagine a World Expo / Fair here.....hey if Knoxville can do it........

[btoy]

I know it is on Greenville's radar, that was something that Visison 2025 said they wanted to do.

Also, I was at the 1983 World's Fair in Knoxville, to young to remember it. It was good huh? Guess I enjoyeed it then.

[monsoon]

I think the 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville was the beginning of the end for the World's Fairs. I don't think they are very relevant anymore.

[roads-scholar]

I think the 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville was the beginning of the end for the World's Fairs.  I don't think they are very relevant anymore.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Very true! Just ask the folks in Knoxville if they would do it again.

[RestedTraveler]

Very true!  Just ask the folks in Knoxville if they would do it again.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Most of the folks in Knoxville today weren't alive in 1982 (well, 40,000 of the 174,000 at least). :-)

[RestedTraveler]

I think the 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville was the beginning of the end for the World's Fairs.  I don't think they are very relevant anymore.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Actually - they're still going quite strong and are probably more relevant today than ever before, especially considering how close-knitt that the world community has become due to improved travel, the internet, and other factors that have emerged over the past decades.

The last Expo was in Hanover, Germany in 2000. The current one is in Aichi, Japan (2005). The next two are slated for Zaragoza, Spain (2008) and Shanghai, China (2010).

It's just that none have been in North America since 1986 (Vancouver's Expo86). The beginning of the end for North American cities hosting them was actually 1984 in New Orleans. The BIE (Bureau International des Expositions) has placed some restrictions on them now (frequency, geographical location, etc.) to try to avoid another failure such as New Orleans '84.

[goodbye]

I would love to see a World's Fair in Greenville within my lifetime. I know it is quite a far-fetched idea currently, but with the continual flow of new international companies and residents into the area I would never count it out entirely.

[Spartan]

I didn't know that they did the worlds fairs anymore. I just assumed they had faded away. Greenville is in dire need of a useless piece of architecture.

Anyone care to explain the importance of the worlds fair/expo?

Some useless trivia-

Ever wonder what happened to the rotating saucers from NYC's world fair (As seen in "Men in Black")? One of them was sent down to Columbia and now serves as the motor and rotating mechanics for the Top of Carolina rotating restaurant.

[pacersfan218]

I heard from an employee at Mast it would be here in 2019

[RestedTraveler]

Wow - I think I started something ! 2019? Maybe 2020 or 2025 would be a good target to aim for

There haven't been any comments including out and out laughter yet, so that's a good sign