Has there been any discussion about a “World's Fair” in Las Vegas?

Have there ever been any discussions regarding a “World's Fair” in or around Las Vegas? With all the hotel rooms available and so much flat land south of the airport, it could be a real boom to the area. The last United States World's Fair was in New Orleans in 1989. Other fairs were: 1984 New Orleans; 1982 Knoxville; 1974 Spokane; 1968 San Antonio; 1964 New York; 1962 Seattle.

We tried several local historians and came up empty; none could remember any discussions about Las Vegas hosting a World's Fair.

But surely if New Orleans could have two World’s Fairs in five years, Las Vegas ought to be eligible for one. The next three will be held in Dubai, Buenos Aires, and Osaka, meaning that Las Vegas couldn’t even get into the running, if it wanted to, until after 2025.

The very first World's Fair, by the way, was the French Industrial Exposition, held in Paris in 1844, so the world-expo concept has a long and storied history.

Mind you, Las Vegas remains the center of the world for some of the most important trade shows in the business, including the yearly Global Gaming Expo (G2E), the Consumer Electronics Show and the CON-AGG Expo, which takes over the entire Las Vegas Convention Center and is one of the reason the Convention Center is expanding all the way out to the Las Vegas Strip, on the site where the Riviera once stood.

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gaattc2001 Jul-21-2019

Don't forget the Adult Entertainment Expo...

January 22-25 at the Hard Rock.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/avn-adult-entertainment-expo-january-22-25-2020-tickets-57640737999?aff=ebdssbdestsearch
Cheers.

Larry Stone Jul-21-2019

new york 1964-5

the only worlds fair i attended was the 1964-5 fair in flushing meadows new york.  i still have some of the plastic pins from the ford exhibit.

Kevin Lewis Jul-21-2019

Fatal flaw

World's Fairs are held over a period of several months, straddling the summer (May-Sept., for instance). But during those months in Vegas, birds burst into flame in midair, nuns get into fistfights on the street, and RVs sink into the asphalt like trapped dinosaurs. World's Fairs are outdoor-indoor exhibitions, and in midday during a Vegas summer, the outdoors is about as hospitable as the surface of the moon. So ain't nobody gonna schedule such an event, no way, nohow.

Besides, World's Fairs should be in some way evocative of the location where they're held. Vegas already has the world's largest gaming expo and porn convention. I think a World's Fair would be a little too wholesome and send the false message that Vegas is an actual city.

Rob Reid Jul-21-2019

San Antonio

I attended the 1968 fair in San Antonio.  It was called Hemisfair, not World's Fair.  I don't know if there is any difference.  I do recall there being a lot of pavilions representing different countries.

Question of the Day - 21 July 2019

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