I was just thinking of events I would like to visit if I ever found myself with access to a time machine and realized I would love to have spectated some of the world fairs of history.
The first one was in 1851 and the most recent closed out in April 2022, though they call them Expos now.
The next one is planned for 2025 in Japan so maybe I can make that one for a vacation.
So, have you been to one? Regale us with your experiences!
I grew up in Portland, Oregon, and we went to the Seattle World’s Fair in 1962. I was (or was about to be) 13 at the time. I don’t remember much about it except going up in the Space Needle (we didn’t eat up there, we didn’t have that kind of money). The fair was probably very crowded. I don’t remember any of the exhibits or anything else. Kind of a waste, really.
My mom went to the NY World’s Fair the year after she graduated high school. I’ve never been to one myself.
My mom, brother and I went to Expo 67 in Montreal in 1967.
First time I saw pigeons, or ate pizza.
At one of the shows for kids, there was a warm-up act of a clown roaming around the kids, telling jokes and making suckers appear like magic. My brother and I both called him out: he had the suckers stashed in his glove, and we said so, loudly. He was not pleased and said “Shut up you two!” Not a happy clown.
There was a skytrain (open cars) and we were riding in one, when the free-spirited québécois in the car pulled out a mickey of rum and started passing it around. Piper Mom was not amused.
A friend and I went to Expo 86 as part of a 2-week road trip. I made hotel reservations at a sight-unseen hotel on one of the outlying neighborhoods because it was near a light rail stop. When we got there we discovered it had a strip club on the first floor (kind of unique) and our room was right above it (kind of noisy). Although we didn’t patronize the club we did end up going out to dinner with one the dancers.
As far as the Expo itself, I recall being super impressed with it as being on a par with Disneyland as far as the quality and scope of the pavilions and attractions. What I remember most is the seeing 3D movie in the Canadian Pavilion (first full color IMAX 3D film) that had a scene where you were “right there” flying in formation with Canada Geese.
I went to the Montreal Expo 67 and I found out my husband was there at the same time! ( I was 10 he was 13)
Knoxville 1982. Saw the Wigsphere and everything.
I went to the Seattle World’s Fair (the Century 21 Exposition) in 1962 with my Dad and younger brother. I was 9 years old at the time, and I was just awed by all the sights and sounds. I especially liked the Pacific Science Center exhibits.
Did you get to see the information desk?
I grew up near Seattle; years after the World’s Fair, but I knew about it as part of the city’s history. I wanted to go to the '74 Fair in Spokane, but I was 9 so I couldn’t really go on my own. When the '86 Fair was in Vancouver I wasn’t going to miss it. I went a few times. Saw as many of the pavilions as I could, rode a maglev, all kinds of things. There’s an airshow in Abbottsford every year, and they had a great lineup to go along with the Fair. They had an SR-71 that did a flyby of the fairgrounds on its way out of town.
Somehow, I missed the hotel with the strip club.
Our family rented an RV and drove to Expo 86; we parked the RV in my uncle’s driveway for the couple of days we were in the Vancouver area. I remember almost nothing about the actual pavilions except that we went to an IMAX movie and I think we had lunch at a place where an Irish Rovers-style band was playing.
The road trip aspect was more memorable for me.
I was at Expo 67 too! But don’t ask me anything, because I was only 6.
Did you know each other at the time?
DesetWife and I spent four days of our honeymoon there. Maybe we saw each other. 
Two of the days were fine and two were hot and muggy, unusual for Vancouver. We noticed tired and cranky sounds the same in many different languages.
Another one here who was at Expo 67 in Montreal. I would have been about 6 or 7.
I recall riding on the then-new Montreal subway system, and the People Mover at the site. And of course, the nations’ pavilions. I particularly recall the American pavilion, with all the space exploration stuff; and the Soviet Union’s pavilion, mainly because it had writing on signs that I couldn’t read. It was in Russian, in the Cyrillic alphabet, of course, though English and French translations always accompanied it. Interestingly, many years later, I would learn how to read Cyrillic and to speak Russian–perhaps the USSR’s pavilion pushed me into doing so?
I was a little disappointed in the Australian pavilion, because I expected to see kangaroos and koalas. There weren’t any. Hey, I was only 6 or 7, okay? 
It was fun. I’d like to attend another World’s Fair, if ever I can.
Seville '92. Miserable.
It was almost as ill advised as Qatar
Seville is the warmest city in Continental Europe. It is also the hottest major metropolitan area in Europe, with summer average high temperatures of above 35 °C and also the hottest in Spain. After the city of Córdoba (also in Andalusia), Seville has the hottest summer in continental Europe among all cities with a population over 100,000 people, with average daily highs of 36.0 °C (97 °F) in July.
Huh. I was expecting a dozen of the first 16 responses to be “NYC World’s Fair, 1964-5” so I’m wrong again. I went there on school trips, with my parents, with friends, by myself, and after it closed I would take long walks through the park it was held in. I even got married in a building in that park.
I lived in Montreal at the time of Expo 67, so I was there a lot. IIRC, we had passes good for the duration of the fair. I seem to recall that they looked like passports, and you could get them stamped at each pavilion you visited.
My most memorable visit was going there after school on the first day it was open. It was like being plunged into another world – an absolutely breathtaking wonderland. The magic of that first day was enhanced by the fact that it was relatively uncrowded – you could scoot into any pavilion that attracted your attention. Later on there were usually lineups in front of most pavilions.
Possibly the most impressive structure in Expo 67 was the US pavilion, a gigantic geodesic dome designed by Buckminster Fuller that is still standing today, thanks to the efforts of then-mayor Jean Drapeau to turn the entire Expo site into a permanent park. The dome became a sort of informal symbol of the fair. It was also cool because the fair’s monorail system ran right through it. Also, while most countries built their pavilions to showcase their technological achievements, the US pavilion focused on culture, including a big section dedicated to the celebration of movies. They did, however, have several actual spacecraft that had returned from space, including I believe a Gemini capsule, looking pretty scorched from the heat of reentry.
Many countries chose to dismantle their pavilions at the end of the fair. The US pavilion was donated to Montreal by then-president Lyndon Johnson.
Today the dome is called the Biosphere …
Another Montreal '67-er checking in.
I don’t remember a thing about it, aside from a few cheap souvenirs.
mmm
Spokane Expo '74. We drove up from Utah, camping along the way. There stayed at a camp ground sort of close to the expo, but the hot water heater was broken and the showers were icy cold, even in the summer.
It was fun!