Remembering Vancouver Expo 86

I am a fan of world’s fairs, an interest that started in 1962 with Seattle’s Century 21 Exposition. This year marks the 35th anniversary of another important fair in the region, Vancouver, British Columbia’s Expo ’86.

When Vancouver hosted a modern expo that year, it joined the Pacific Northwest’s other major cities, Portland (1905), Seattle (1909, 1962) and Spokane (1974) as exposition hosts. In the years since Expo ’86, Vancouver’s has also gained important symbolism as the last expo hosted in North America. It was a kind of golden moment. Opened by the then-fairytale couple Prince Charles and Princess Diana, it drew some 22 million visitors, more than double Seattle’s 1962 fair… read more >