We have a winner! In the final round of voting, Belgrade has beaten Malaga 81 votes to 70 and wins the right to host Expo 2027 in Serbia.

The theme is "Play for Humanity: Sport and Music for All".

#Expo2027 #WorldExpo #WorldsFair

That leaves Rome, Busan, and Riyadh in the race for Expo 2030. Voting takes place in November.

Tomorrow, meanwhile, BIE members will be voting on the hosting rights for the smaller-scale Expo 2027 (or 28, if Phuket wins). It's a five way shoot-out between Bariloche, Belgrade, Malaga, Phuket, and Minnesota. Looking at flight prices, my wallet would not mind one bit if Malaga wins the bid (plus the city genuinely looks an interesting place to visit)!

#Expo2030 #Expo2027 #WorldExpo #WorldsFair

So, the BIE have announced that Odessa is out of the running for hosting Expo 2030. Which is fair enough. As much as I love the dream of a post-war Ukraine welcoming the world in 2030, serious logistic planning would need to start from late-2023 onwards, and that just seems impossible (and, probably, distracting).

#Expo2030 #WorldExpo #WorldsFair

Exactly one year ago, I had just finished my first day exploring Expo 2020 in Dubai. Yup, I'm going to be thinking about travel a lot this week. I gotta get my next holiday sorted.

#Wanderlust #WorldExpo #Expo2020 #Travel

Huh, just realised that yesterday would have been the opening day of Expo 2023 in Buenos Aires, if it hadn't been for the pandemic. I feel like I'm missing out and, yet, I'm not sure I would have been able to afford a trip to Argentina. Conversely, I probably wouldn't have been able to go to Expo 2020 if COVID hasn't delayed the opening and given me an extra year to save up.

Either way, my wanderlust is growing to severe levels and I need to book a holiday. 😅

#WorldExpo #Travel

#interior and #exterior of the #seedcathedral at the 2010 #WorldExpo in #shanghai #china. Each rod has a #seed implanted in it’s base and acts like a #fiberoptic cable to #receive #light during the day and #transmit it at night. https://archziner.com/home/architecture/seed-cathedral-for-shanghai-world-expo-2010/ #travel #photography

#underside of #china #pavilion at #worldexpo in #shanghai from 2010 #travel #photography

The organising committee of Expo 2025 Osaka have been giving a presentation to the BIE, updating members on the progress of their preparations. Looks like they've got everything in hand...

https://twitter.com/bieparis/status/1597177563910393860

(Apologies for linking to Twitter; the BIE haven't made their way into the fediverse yet but this video delights me too much not to share it)

#WorldExpo #Expo2025 #Expo2025Osaka

I've run away to join the Zirkus!

I've been on Octodon Social since July 2017 (you can find my old posts at https://octodon.social/@ValerianForrest) but I'm jumping to this instance because I think I'll get more out of the local timeline here.

I'll mostly be talking about the #Arts (particularly #Theatre and #ClassicalMusic), #Travel (I'm partial to a spot of fantasy city break planning), #Eurovision and World Expos/World's Fairs ( #WorldExpo ).