A bluffer’s guide to... World Expo 2020

Hold on a second. What’s a World Expo?

Simply put, it’s the world’s greatest show – and an inventor’s paradise, filled with the latest in modern technology. Hosted every five years in cities across the world, this year it’s set to take place in Dubai (from 20 October to 10 April 2021) – the first time it’s ever been hosted by an Arab and Muslim nation.

Thanks. What can I expect?

To be amazed. Dubai’s World Expo is calling together international experts in design and technology to present innovative solutions to world problems. To give you an idea, the first World Expo impressed the world – and Queen Victoria – nearly 170 years ago in London with its gleaming display of steam engines, microscopes and the controversial Koh-i-noor diamond. Others have presented everything from the Eiffel Tower to talking movies and ketchup.

But how does it work?

Visitors can explore 192 pavilions – one for almost every nation in the world. Themed around opportunity, mobility and sustainability, they aim to inspire travellers with hope – Peru’s pavilion highlights Inca building techniques still used today, while Poland’s features thousands of ‘migrating’ paper birds to symbolise their global role. For Switzerland, you enter through a sea of fog, immersing you deep within sky-high mountains.

That sounds like a lot. What else do I need to know?

It is a lot, but remember you have six months to explore it all. With 60 live events taking place each day, every day is a new experience. After the Expo is finished, part of the site will be turned into a children’s science centre, taking visitors through the root system of a forest, to the inside of a fish gutted by plastic, ending with the theme of hope for the future.

The greatest show Independent tickets will be on sale six months before the event around March/april