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Below is the text of an article by
Tom Angleberger that appeared in the Roanoke (VA) Times on August 30, 2002, entitled "World's Fair Goes to Japan in
March '05":
Q: Please tell me where and when the next World's Fair will be held.
- E.W., Roanoke
A: There's a horticultural world exposition going on in the Netherlands through Oct. 12 and another in Rostock, Germany,
in 2003. The next World's Fair was going to be in Seine-Saint-Denis, France, in 2004. But it was canceled
because of a lack of interest and money, according to World's Fair watcher and enthusiast Urso Chappell. That means
the next one will be Japan's 2005 World Exposition, which is expected to draw 15 million visitors from March to September.
(The big fairs come in five-year intervals - 2000, 2005, 2010.) Although Atlanta, El Paso, Oklahoma City / Tulsa
and San Francisco have all shown interest, there are no firm plans for a World's Fair in the United States any time soon,
according to Chappell's Web site, www.expomuseum.com.In fact, the United States has dropped out of the international group that sanctions
the fairs. However, a grass-roots movement is under way to bring the fair to New York in 2012. Princeton University
sophomore Jonathan Bydlak cooked up the idea with his roommate last spring. Since then, he's collected 1,300 signatures and
is trying to generate political and corporate support. "It was just one of those crazy college ideas," he said
in a telephone
interview. "I never thought I would be going this far with it." You can sign his petition by
visiting: www.WorldExpo2012.com.
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