SPOKANE, Wash.- Spokane’s Expo ‘74 was notable for being the smallest city ever to host such a celebration. Two much larger locations, Budapest and Okinawa, hosted Expos ‘71 and ‘75.
Expo ‘71 was themed around hunting. At a time in which Hungary was still a Soviet satellite state, the event drew millions of international visitors.
Okinawa’s Expo ‘75, was an “International Ocean Exposition.” The event featured an artificial island named Aquapolis which was meant to model a futuristic aquatic city.
Though Budapest and Okinawa were both more populous than Spokane, Expo ‘74 had millions more visitors than either the ‘71 or ‘74 celebrations. Over 5 million people attended throughout the six months the fair was active.
Whether it was due to the strength of the American economy despite a recession in the early 1970s, the excitement of a sitting president speaking at the Expo, or simply something about the Lilac City itself, it is clear that Expo ‘74 marked a special moment in the history of world expositions.
