# Do world's fairs still happen? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 3, 2001, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-worlds-fairs-still-happen/60584 "2001-04-03T03:15:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sethdallob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@sethdallob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sethdallob)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2001, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-worlds-fairs-still-happen/60584/1 "2001-04-03T03:15:34Z")
I’ve searched far and wide and can’t seem to find a rhyme or reason for World’s Fairs. When is the next one? All I can find are websites for old ones. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2001, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-worlds-fairs-still-happen/60584/2 "2001-04-03T03:46:51Z")
Yes, they still have them(Hannover, 2000). Why, who knows? The first may have been the exhibition in London in 1851, and you can enjoy a time line of exhibitions [here](http://www.virtualworldfairs.com/stl/timeline1.htm) . ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2001, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-worlds-fairs-still-happen/60584/3 "2001-04-03T03:54:03Z")
Well, I have heard that the Expo 2000 at Hanover, Germany, was a flop. [http://www.expo2000.de/newhome\_e.html](http://www.expo2000.de/newhome_e.html) Maybe they are just lying low in hopes that everyone will forget it before the next one. On the other hand, it appears that St. Louis is trying to recreate the glory of their 1904 experience–on-line: [http://www.virtualworldfairs.com/stl/worldsfair%20main%20frame.htm](http://www.virtualworldfairs.com/stl/worldsfair%20main%20frame.htm) And (from the host site) here is a list of proposed Fairs and Expos: 2004 Seine-Saint-Denis, France — Exposition Internationale de 2004 (bid) 2004 St. Louis Virtual World’s Fair 2004 - Virtual World’s Fair 2004 WEB SITE 2005 Aichi, Japan — Expo 2005 — EXPO 2005 WEB SITE Atlanta, USA — World Expo 2007 (potential bid) Oklahoma City/Tulsa, USA — Expo 2007 (potential bid) 2007 Abu Dhabi, UAE — Expo 2007 (potential bid) 2008 Spain — Exposition Internationale de 2004 (potential bid) 2010 Buenos Aires, Argentina — Expo 2010 (bid) Shanghai, People’s Republic of China — Expo 2010 (potential bid) Wroclaw, Poland — Expo 2010 (potential bid) Yosu, South Korea — 2010 Expo (bid) — EXPO 2010 BID WEB SITE Singapore — Expo 2010 (potential bid) 2015 San Francisco, USA — Expo 2015 (proposed) ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2001, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-worlds-fairs-still-happen/60584/4 "2001-04-03T03:59:50Z")
[this site](http://www.victorianstation.com/palace.html) seems to offer a nice history of the whys. National ego is the basic reason. Don’t think things have changed.