About EXPO 2020 – Ya'lla Tours Expo

EXPO Opening Hours:

Weekdays: Saturday to Wednesday – 10:00 am to 1:00 am

Weekend: Thursday & Friday – 10:00 am to 2:00 am

When my parents announced their plans to visit Expo 86 in Vancouver BC, I was intrigued. Being a child of the Pacific Northwest, I grew up knowing about the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair and the Space Needle that was its legacy. I became curious about what the Vancouver fair would have to offer. What I...

A Space-Themed Expo for a Space Age World: Seattle 1962

In my last post I briefly mentioned the Seattle World’s Fair of 1962, officially named the Century 21 Exposition. Expos have always had a tendency to look toward the future. But the theme of “Man in the Space Age” was conceived as a rebuttal to the Soviet Union. By launching Sputnik in 1957, they were...

Communication and Condiments: The First USA World’s Fair

World Expos are officially sanctioned by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) in Paris. The first official World’s Fair in the United States was the Centennial International Exhibition of 1876. It was held in Philadelphia to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The theme was Arts, Manufactures and Products...

Lisbon and Dubai: Two of the Largest Aquariums in the World

The last Expo of the 20th century, the 1998 Lisbon World Exposition, was a specialized World’s Fair held in Portugal’s capitol city. The theme, “The Oceans, a Heritage for the Future”, was chosen in part to commemorate 500 years of Portuguese exploration and discovery. The Oceans building was one of several pavilions showcasing that theme. ...

1889 Paris International Exposition: The Iron Lady’s Debut

The Paris International Exposition of 1889 celebrated the 100th anniversary of the storming of the Bastille. The theme, “The French Revolution”, was possibly meant to be twofold: commemorating the past while trumpeting France’s “revolutionary” industrial prowess to the world. However, the theme choice raised eyebrows among some European monarchs. There was a notable increase in...

Chicago 1893: George Ferris’ Big Wheel

The World’s Fair: Columbian Exposition (named for Christopher Columbus), was held in Chicago in 1893. Designed as a miniature city, there were fourteen main “great buildings” centered around a giant reflective pool called the Grand Basin. The stucco neoclassical buildings were painted a soft shade of white and bathed in light at night, giving rise...

Liberty Enlightening the World – Part 1: The Egyptian Connection

In 1855, a young French sculptor named Frederic Auguste Bartholdi visited Nubian monuments at Abu Simbel in Egypt. He became fascinated by the gigantic colossus figures which guarded the tombs and set about learning how they were constructed. When the Egyptian government expressed their intention to build a lighthouse at the new Suez Canal, Bartholdi...